Across Dimensions: Parting Reality's Veil
by Taliath
Summary: AU/AD. Namikaze Naruto has led a charmed life under the protection of the Fourth Hokage. But now, after sacrificing himself for his home, he finds himself waking up in an entirely new world, surrounded by a village that despises him.
1. PROLOGUE: Shiki Fujin

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**Across Dimensions: Parting Reality's Veil  
**

_**by Taliath**_

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**Author's Notes:**

It's been a while. I won't deny that. According to the date stamp on my HP fanfics, it's been two years. Two long, long years. Those who are members of DLP and TFF have seen more activity from me in terms of writing fanfics than those here at FFN. I have several more scenes written for "In Light of Silver Memories" that have yet to be posted here on FFN. I also wrote a new story called "Ancient Ascension," which is a Stargate-HP crossover. And finally, this Naruto fic.

I don't exactly know when, but some time during past two years I began to watch Naruto and read Naruto fanfiction. I found myself getting nearly as obsessed over Naruto as I did over HP because of the sheer number of original and creative plots that can be crafted from the Naruto canon world. I read, and read, and read—but early this year I found that what I thought was a limitless supply of a new fanfiction source was beginning to dry up. I found that I'd already read most of the classics out there.

In February, my fingers began to itch. My mind began to imagine and plot amazing adventures for Naruto. But I initially resisted the urge to write. To be honest, I have yet to ever complete a fanfic. And I didn't want to bite off more than I can chew—again. But the thought of writing again excited me. So I found myself, one day in February, sitting down to write.

And write. And write. To be honest, I'm still slow in coming up with new scenes. I still sometimes doubt whether I can actually bring this fic to completion. But I can hope, can't I?

I told myself not to post it up until I've got a significant portion written. Well, I'm sad to say I don't. I only have almost forty thousand words. But I find I can't resist the temptation to post my Naruto fic on FFN any longer.

Thus, we are here. You're reading this because, well, I don't know. But I'm writing this to explain my reasoning for posting, yet again, another new fic. I hope you understand.

So. Let's get the show on the road.

First, the standard Disclaimer: "I own nothing written in this fiction. All of this is copyrighted and owned by, well, whoever it is that actually owns Naruto." (Kishimoto, or his fangirls—don't really know considering how the manga's headed).

Second, and more importantly, I owe a massive thanks to TheSeer and Shelter. They beta'd my fic, combing through it oh-so-carefully, and picked it apart thoroughly. Without their help, this fanfic would not nearly be so polished.

Finally, please leave a review with a comment for this fic. I honestly appreciate even the shortest, one-word review, because it shows me that there _are_ people out there actually reading this and who have taken precious time to review. Thank you all in advance!

Cheers, and enjoy!

**Summary**:

A strong ninja with the will of fire given to him by the self-sacrificing Third Hokage, Namikaze Naruto has led a charmed life under the protection of the Fourth. But now, after sacrificing himself for his home, he finds himself waking up in an entirely new world, surrounded by a village that despises him. Where it was the Fourth, not the Third, who performed the Shiki Fujin on the Kyuubi. Naruto must strive to solve this mystery and return to his original world.

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_**Prologue:**_ **Shiki Fujin**

He was the son of the Fourth Hokage. He was an elite jounin of the Hidden Village of Konoha. He was the former apprentice of the Great Sannin Jiraiya. He was a former ANBU Captain (and would have still been an ANBU captain if he hadn't gotten tired of the paperwork). He was known throughout all the lands as the Thousand Whirlwinds. He was the self-proclaimed heartthrob of all kunoichi.

And he had just reached his twelfth birthday this morning.

"NARUUUUUUTOOOO!"

Ah, yes. He was Namikaze Naruto. The Number One Most Surprising Ninja. A lover of all, to all, and for all. Indeed, he cherished his home. He adored his family. He loved his village. But most importantly—he loved attention.

"CAPTAIN! GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"

Naruto grinned. "Why? Don't you just _love_ my work?" he shouted back to his pursuers. "It's my birthday gift to me!"

He woke up this morning to find that he had indeed aged one more year, and had the splendid idea to give himself a birthday present. It would have to be grand, he decided. It would have to have great meaning. It would have to be—

"CAPTAIN, YOU BRAAAT!"

Naruto landed lightly on top of a lamppost and shook his butt at them. "Nah, nah, nah-nah, nah! You'll _never_ catch ME! Who am I? I'm Namikaze—" He jumped up high into the air, chakra winds helping to lift him up and over the dozen shuriken that had been thrown at him. "That was just mean, ANBU-chan! Like, that could have _seriously_ hurt me!"

The ninja chasing him all growled quite menacingly and Naruto gave them a sheepish grin.

"Not in the best of moods, eh?" he asked, and found his answer in the way the ANBU squads all reached for more sharp, pointy objects to throw at him. "Right, I'll take that as a no, then." He twisted in mid-air, quickly avoiding the volley, and landed atop another lamppost.

"Well, that's all right!" Naruto said cheerfully once more. "I can understand why you'd be annoyed, chasing me all over the place. But seriously, can't you appreciate the wonderful art that I've just performed? I mean," and here Naruto took a moment to return his gaze to his masterpiece of a present, "isn't it just grand? A true masterpiece to behold! It really just lightens up the whole mood of the village, doesn't it? Now the Hokages will be remembered even more vividly in the minds of the Konoha people!"

Unfortunately, it seemed none of his pursuers shared his viewpoint. The ANBU squads had not been idle during Naruto's musings, and when he finally returned his gaze to his chasers, he found that he had been surrounded. The ANBU were silent, as though afraid of provoking him into running again, and were approaching quite cautiously. But the former ANBU captain could easily see the irritation of the ninja surrounding him.

"Erm," the blond jounin muttered, his hand raised and scratching the back of his head. He attempted a look of innocence. "I'm sorry?"

"Naruto," growled one of the ANBU slowly.

He laughed hesitantly. "Yeah, ANBU-chan?"

"DIE!"

His eyes widened as a dozen ANBU shinobi leaped at him with astonishing speed—

And he couldn't help but poke at their rage some more. "Nice try! But as I've said before, YOU'LL **NEVER** CATCH THE GREAT NAMIKAZE NARUTO!" He moved his hands into a single hand seal. **Bunshin Daibakuha!**

* * *

A very long distance away from the explosion, the real Namikaze Naruto erupted into laughter as his clone's memories accumulated in his brain. _Heh_, he thought clutching his sides in unstoppable mirth, _as if anyone could ever catch—_

"Naruto," said a calm voice in his ear.

"AHH!" shouted Naruto in shock, jumping away. "You! I told you not to sneak up on me again!" He frowned. "What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be slaving away in your office right now?"

Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage, rolled his eyes. "What, and miss out on the absolute mess my son's made of the village pride?"

"Oh, you saw my masterpiece, huh?" said Naruto, scratching the back his head once again, an action that reminded the Hokage of his own youth.

"As if anyone could miss it, Naruto," Minato said with a raised eyebrow, and sighed as Naruto grinned cheerfully in response. "Whatever am I going to do with you?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll think of something. You're the great Hokage, right?" Here, the boy gave his father a pitying look, and shuddered as he continued. "And you have to deal with all the paperwork this mess'll cause too."

"Brat." Minato glared as his son. "You know, I just can't wait till you're Hokage yourself, son. Then you'll know my pain."

"Hokage? Me?" exclaimed Naruto childishly. He scoffed. "As if! I'm _never_ gonna be Hokage. I'll kick the council's ass if they ever try pushing that much paperwork on me. Believe it!"

Minato just gave him a knowing look. "Well, you're still young. You never know—"

"Nope. Never. Nada." Naruto was firm. "Never, never, never. I'd rather become a missing-nin and terrorize little children than become Hokage. I'd rather re-join ero-baka on his travels. Or, maybe I should just confess my undying love to Kurenai-chan and quit being a ninja, get married, have children, and raise wonderful little Namikazes. Then again, that'll be such a hassle. And I never really liked little kids, what with their crying and screaming. Hmm. Maybe I'll just—"

"I get the point," interrupted Minato dryly. "But before the council, or even I, ever even think about giving you that position—you're going to have to clean up the mess you've caused today."

Naruto gave his father an innocent look. "What'd'ya mean? I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Naruto," warned the Hokage.

"What?" said the elite jounin, still keeping up his innocent-child façade. "Seriously, does anyone have any _proof_ I caused—well, whatever it is you think I caused?"

Minato's eyes narrowed and stubborn blue met stubborn blue.

Naruto continued smugly. "Do you have any eye witnesses? Anyone who could point to me and say, 'Yes, he's the one! That's the great and gorgeous artist who rendered such a magnificent masterful masterpiece out of the old, boring Hokage Monument!'? Anyone at all?"

A glint entered Minato's eyes.

* * *

"I hate you," said Naruto angrily.

"I love you too," replied Minato sweetly.

The two of them were atop the Hokage Monument, where Naruto was to--very reluctantly--clean up the four faces displayed below.

"You know how disturbing I find it, and yet you still threatened to stick me with it again!" snapped Naruto, with a glare.

"Him, Naruto," said Minato in an exasperated manner. "And you know it was the only way to get you to actually clean this up."

"Fine, _him_. But seriously, I think Konohamaru's got some rare disease or something! He keeps following me around like some stupid lost puppy and it really freaks me out!"

"Just clean up this mess."

Naruto grumbled as he gathered up a large amount of chakra and began forming hand signs. "I can't believe you're making me destroy a masterpiece," he whined. At least the paint he had used had been water-based and would easily wash away with some liberal application of water. With the last hand sign, the jounin took a deep breath.

**Suiton: Bakusui Shoha!**

Torrents of water gushed out from his mouth and washed away all the paint he had used on the Hokage Monument. He carefully controlled the amount—just enough so that the paint washed away, and the small patch of trees below were watered. After a long minute, he released the technique with a sigh. "I love my large chakra capacity."

Minato gave him an amused glace. "I see you've got another vast chakra-consuming technique."

"Yeah, but it's really useful, isn't it?"

"When was the last time you tapped into—?"

"I haven't," said Naruto quickly. "Not since the war with Hidden Cloud years ago. I know how much it damages my body. Tsunade-baachan's made sure I was informed of the damage."

"I see," said Minato softly. He was looking out over the Hidden Village, his eyes looking far back into the past.

_He's remembering the incident again_, thought Naruto. Twelve years ago to this day. The devastation. The death of the Sandaime Hokage by his self-sacrificing jutsu. Even to this day, no one outside of the highest echelons of Konoha's hierarchy knew the truth. That the Kyuubi was still alive, still existing behind a seal on Naruto's stomach.

Only Jiraiya and Tsunade, Minato and Naruto, Kakashi and Rin, knew the truth.

"He was a great man, you know," said Minato, reminiscing. "I sometimes wonder what he'd think of me, whether he'd be proud of what I've done. The God of Shinobi. The Professor." The Fourth sighed. "And sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't have done the sealing myself."

Naruto stayed silent, as he watched the sun setting in the distance. After a moment, he finally replied, "He did what he thought was best, just as you've done till now. You've been a great Hokage, maybe the best. Everyone says so."

Minato gave him a smile. "I never did congratulate you on your birthday, did I? And I've missed out on so many these last couple years." He gave Naruto a one-armed hug. "Happy twelfth birthday, Naruto. I'm really proud of you. You know that, right?"

"I know, father," said Naruto. "I know."

_And I'm sorry, but I will never be Hokage_, thought Naruto silently. He had seen how tired it made his father, to bear such responsibility. He had seen firsthand how devastating it could be to a person. How a single mistake could mean the death of an acquaintance.

His father had changed greatly through the years. He rarely smiled, even more rarely laughed. It was all Naruto could do to make him leave his office every now and then.

_No._ Naruto had long ago decided. _I never want that for myself. Never._

* * *

"Ero-niisan? What the hell are you doing here?" asked Naruto. He was about to enter the Hokage's office, having received an urgent summons from a messenger-nin.

The Copy-Cat Nin, Hatake Kakashi, lazily glanced up at him from his Icha Icha book. "Naruto? That's surprising. You received a summons too?"

"Yeah, must be pretty serious if the both of us are needed."

Kakashi answered with a shrug, his attention having already returned to his erotic novel, and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Naruto, Kakashi. Excellent." Minato motioned for them to take a seat, and tossed two sets of scrolls at them. "Read them quickly. In there are details for our mission."

Naruto looked at his father questioningly. What did he mean, "our mission"? Was he going to go on a mission himself? It was extremely rare for a Kage to take a mission, unless it was an extreme emergency. And the Fourth hadn't gone on one for years. Minato waved away his questioning gaze.

"Read first."

And the two elite jounins did so. Kakashi seemed to have finished first, as he looked up sharply and said, "You can't be serious, sensei!"

"Unfortunately, everything in the scrolls has been verified."

"Are you sure we can trust the source?" asked Naruto, having caught up. "I know he's Rin's former apprentice, but—"

"Rin is adamant that he's telling the truth and that his loyalty still belongs to Konoha." The Hokage rubbed his eyes. "And even if he might not be and it turns out to be a trap, we can't afford to lose this opportunity. This is the first time _he's_ surfaced in a decade."

"Even so, sensei," said Kakashi. "This really is troubling news. If they're really planning to join up—"

"Exactly why we must stop the alliance from finalizing as quickly as possible."

"And how did the source manage to infiltrate _his _base anyway?"

Kakashi answered Naruto's question with a grin. "You probably haven't been an elite jounin long enough, Naruto, but Rin's the Spymaster of ANBU's Information Division. And she's damn good."

"Oh, I see," said Naruto. He sighed. "So Sand's trying to eliminate us, huh?"

"It certainly seems so. And by joining up with a former Konoha missing-nin, they've got a fair shot at hitting us where it hurts," Kakashi concluded.

"Orochimaru and the Kazekage. What an awful match up," muttered Naruto. He looked up at his father. "So, are you seriously gonna just send ero-niisan, me, and yourself to take on the Snake bastard who is a former member of Konoha's Legendary Three, the Kazekage of the Hidden Village of Sand, and however many ninja they might have in their guard?"

The Fourth was silent for a moment, before nodding. "Yes. Essentially. We're going to have to move quickly and stealthily so they don't know we're coming."

"Are you fucking nuts?" exclaimed Naruto. "That's suicide! Oh, sure, you're easily a match for Orochimaru and the rest of the entourage, but do you really think ero-niisan and I can take on the Kazekage? The _Kazekage_ _of Sand_? The one who's rumored to be strong enough to subdue his jinchuuriki son when he goes into full demon mode?" He shook his head. "I mean, sure, niisan and I are elite Jounin. But neither of us can take on a Kage!"

"I know!" snapped the Fourth, slamming his fist down on his table. "I know! But this is an opportunity we cannot waste. I will not have Sand and Orochimaru teaming up against us to wage war on Konoha. I will not allow it!" He stood up abruptly and looked out the window to the village, visibly calming down. "I understand what you are saying, Naruto. But we have no time. As you read in the report, Orochimaru's meeting the Kazekage in less than two days--and we have no idea how long the meeting will last. You two are the strongest in the village after me and we will just have to rise up to the challenge."

"There could be well over two dozen ninja there, sensei. Rumor has it Orochimaru's surrounded himself with an elite squad extremely loyal to himself, which I know you know. The Kazekage probably will have himself surrounded with a dozen elite jounin. Two dozen of the elite against us. Not very good odds." Kakashi also stood up, joining his sensei at the window.

"What do you suggest then, Kakashi?" asked the Fourth.

"We need to bring more ninja with us for the ambush," said Naruto, answering for Kakashi. "I know you said it needs to be a small squad. One or two more elite jounin won't hurt."

The Fourth was silent for a moment, before carefully asking, "And who else is there, Naruto? We cannot leave this village without strong ninja who can guard it while we are gone. Jiraiya won't be here in time, Tsunade the same, all of the ANBU Commanders need to remain to guard the village. The jounin-senseis need to keep taking missions to bring in funds." Minato shook his head slowly. "I have given thought to this, and there truly is no one else to bring."

There was a long period of silence, as each was lost in his own thoughts.

"What about Maito Gai?" said Kakashi suddenly, breaking the stillness. "I know he's a jounin-sensei, but he's due to return from the team mission today. In fact, he's most likely in the village by now. And Gai is an elite jounin equal to Naruto and me in strength."

Naruto gave him a look. "Don't you usually try to avoid him like the plague?"

"For the greater good, I must sacrifice my personal comforts," said Kakashi solemnly, barely keeping himself from shuddering at the thought of sharing a mission with the Green Beast.

The Fourth rolled his eyes. "Very well, then. Maito Gai will be the fourth person to join our team. I'll brief him later, then."

There was another moment of silence.

Naruto finally gave one of his boyish chuckles. "So. We're really doing this, then. We're finally eliminating Orochimaru." The young jounin felt excitement well up within himself at the thought.

"So it seems," muttered Kakashi. "And the Kazekage. And if the Sand ever finds out, perhaps even another Great Ninja War."

"Tomorrow," agreed the Fourth, still gazing out over the village. "Tomorrow, we will leave. The four of us."

_Four of Konoha's Legendary ninjas_, mused Naruto as he watched his beloved village. _Each of us has made a name for ourselves_. The Yellow Flash. The Copy Cat. The Green Beast. And the Thousand Whirlwinds.

* * *

"EXPERIENCE THE FULL SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!" roared Gai as he ploughed into Sand shinobi.

Naruto grimaced as he slammed his kunai up the throat of another jounin into his brain, instantly killing the man. _Why does Gai have to be so damn loud?_ He easily weaved through the messy array of his own clone army and the enemy ninja, quickly making his way to where his father was currently fighting both the Kazekage and Orochimaru.

They were at the edge of the vast desert stretching all across the Wind Country, where the landscape was a cross between desert, lush jungle forest, and mountainy terrain. They were in a secluded area where sight was very limited and travel to the place was dangerous and very visible. Thus, it had been extremely difficult to travel here without being seen--

But when the four Konoha legends had made their way to the area, all they found was—

_A fucking trap after all_, thought Naruto in annoyance. Kakashi was currently dealing with the source, a traitor named Kabuto Yakushi, who seemed to actually be almost an even match for him.

**Fuuton: Kamaitachi no Jutsu!** His fingers snapped a half-dozen handseals in a split moment when two annoying jounin attempted to block his path—and they paid for his irritation with their deaths. _Ack! Everything's gone to pieces. I need to help father, quickly!_

With a burst of speed, he was through the enemy shinobi to find his father in a tight taijustu battle with the two other Kage. _Yosh!_ thought Naruto. He had made it in time.

"**Rasengan!**" he roared as he launched the blue sphere against the Kazekage, only to miss as the man twisted away at the last moment. The Kage swung his fist toward an opening on Naruto's side, only to launch back as Naruto widely swung his spiraling sphere around.

"The Namikaze brat, I see," sneered the Kazekage as he landed several meters away.

"At your service," said Naruto, with a smirk. He allowed the sphere to dissipate.

"Naruto! Take care of him!" yelled the Fourth, as he and Orochimaru moved away from the two.

The Kazekage snorted. "As if a child like you could even challenge me. I've heard of your exploits, boy. But you are no match for a Kage. Run away now and let the adults deal with adult business."

"We'll see about that," retorted Naruto, though he did rather worry about his position. Truth be told, he really wasn't a match. Not against a Kage. _That's why ero-niisan was supposed to help me out._ In the distance, he could still hear the other two Konoha shinobi dealing with the other enemies. It didn't look like they would be reinforcing him anytime soon.

"Ah, confident. I remember when I was that young. Very well. Come, little shinobi, and I shall teach you how insignificant you truly are."

If there was one thing that annoyed Naruto more than anything else, it was when people underestimated him. And his usual response was to—well, _educate _them.

He formed a single seal. **Namikaze Naruto Kage Bunshin Rendan**!

A Kage Bunshin appeared in front of the Kazekage, launching a punch, which the man quickly avoided—twisting and jumping up to avoid a wide-sweeping kick from another Kage Bunshin. As he reached the vertex of his leap, however, another Kage Bunshin appeared mid-air to kick, another appeared from below with a punch, and another, and another.

The Kazekage's eyes widened as more and more kept popping up and disappearing, slamming all types of kicks and punches into him from the most awkward angles. "What the—!" He had never seen anyone use Kage Bunshin to this extent. A complete mastery over _when _they appeared, _where _they appeared, and _how _they appeared. It was ridiculous!

And yet the real Naruto stood still, with a single seal and a look of concentration on his face.

The Kage Bunshin disappeared before the Kazekage could land a hit, frustrating him to no end. Though only a fraction of the blows actually landed on his person--he was quick enough to block and fast enough to avoid most hits--it was still getting ridiculous that a child, a _child_, could so effectively keep him at bay!

Naruto smirked, and changed his single seal into another. **Namikaze Naruto Bunshin Daibakuha Rendan!**

The Kazekage's eyes widened as a dozen Kage Bunshin suddenly formed around him and a massive amount of chakra built up—

"**Fuuton: Shoumei Kakumau!**"

The explosion was powerful, sending a shock that would have made Naruto collapse if he hadn't stuck himself to the ground with chakra.

The dusty cloud dispersed quickly as artificial winds blew the cloud apart. And there stood the Kazekage, relatively unharmed, as winds shielded him from the blast.

"I'm impressed, Namikaze. You are truly your father's son. But for all that effort, and you truly must have expelled a ridiculous amount of chakra to create so many Kage Bunshin, you have yet to land a devastating blow."

Naruto took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You really are a Kage-level shinobi," he acknowledged. "You're one of the few who've survived against those attacks."

The Kazekage sneered. "Child, though I will be the first to admit you impress me, the time for games is over."

"I agree." The blone jounin mentally prepared himself for the fight--pushing away stray thoughts, annoyances, and other distractions. He needed to focus. He went through the usual steps he took before every battle, clearing his mind, leaving it blank, to become--a cold-hearted killer.

The blond swiftly launched a dozen kunai. **Fuuton: Ikusen Kage Kunai no Butoukai!** The dozen turned into a thousand, and roaring wind that Naruto manipulated swung the kunai around and around continually attempting to pin-cushion the dodging Kage.

The man twisted and avoided another run from the thousand kunai and within a second formed eight seals. **Fuuton: Daitoppa!**

"We are both wind-masters, boy! I know you've earned the title of the Thousand Whirlwinds—but you should know that I am known as the Wind _God_! **Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai!**"

_No fucking way_, thought Naruto as the Kazekage wiped his blood on to the ground to summon a nightmare of wind blades. He leaped back as quickly as possible as deathly blades of wind bore down on him and formed a dozen hand seals. **Doton: Kyousei Dobei!** He slammed his hands down on the grounds and poured vast amounts of chakra into the technique, and winced as a tornado of violent, raging wind _slammed_ into the wall.

He could hear the Kazekage laughing victoriously over the wind, and gritted his teeth in annoyance. They were both wind-users. Naruto had fought other wind-users before, and every time his skills had been superior. But this was the fucking Yondaime Kazekage himself. The Kazekage who was wind-natured. The Kage of a village known for its wind techniques!

When the barrage finally stopped, Naruto allowed the wall to collapse and stood up to face the Kazekage once again, breathing slightly heavily.

"Ah, still alive, are you?" asked the Kazekage, his eyes narrowing.

"You'll find I'm rather hard to kill." Naruto was surprised to hear his own voice sound so raspy and tired. "Especially using wind techniques."

"Indeed, it seems both of us are rather proficient in terms of wind-based attacks. I suppose we could continue a ninjutsu battle using other elements—but that would be rather repetitive and boring now, eh?"

"I agree," said Naruto, moving into his taijutsu stance.

The Kazekage moved into his own unique stance. "Then—shall we dance?"

Both blurred and disappeared, only to reappear with a resounding slam, then blurred away once again. Naruto found out quickly that he was rather overmatched—he was strong, but the Kazekage was stronger. He was faster, but the Kazekage had more experience. And this difference in taijutsu was very apparent when moments later Naruto grunted as the Kazekage slammed a kick into his stomach. The boy slid roughly along the sandy ground until he finally lost momentum and skid to a stop.

_Ow_, thought Naruto as he shakily stood up. _This is not going to work. _And where the hell was his backup? If, _if_, he survived, he would have strong words with the other two ninja—and show them _painfully_ how much he appreciated them leaving him to deal with the Kazekage alone.

"Tut, tut, Namikaze-kun," taunted the Kazekage. "That was rather disappointing. I was hoping for much more. Really, you're taijutsu is nowhere near you're abilities with ninjutsu. I suppose part of this deficiency has to do with your youth—you've yet to reach puberty and true muscular strength—but still, I'm disappointed."

Naruto spit out some blood, and grit his teeth. **Double Rasengan Style**! He formed a spiraling sphere in each hand, and quickly moved into another stance.

The Kazekage shook his head in amusement, before he launched forward at startling speeds—but had to dodge as Naruto swung the Rasengan around. The tables had turned this round, as the Kazekage could not land a hit without Naruto striking him with the Rasengan—and the Kage couldn't block either. It was almost a game of cat and mouse as each strove to twist and turn, jump and swing, to exploit any weakness.

A true taijutsu dance.

At last, the Kazekage leaped far away, he himself finally beginning to breath heavily. "I did not realize the Rasengan was a self-sustaining jutsu. How convenient," he panted.

Naruto also struggled to get his breathing under control, relieved to be given a break from that intense round. He was too out of breath to talk for a long moment.

"You truly are something, kid," said the Kazekage, chuckling. "If all of Konoha's kids are as talented as you, I can understand why you hold the title of the most powerful village. Remarkable." The Kazekage finally had his breathing back, and he narrowed his eyes. "Which is why I must act now to end your threat before your village gains any more strength."

"There is no fucking way that'll happen," snarled Naruto, finally responding. A smile suddenly bloomed on his face. "We will defeat you today." A slight shift of wind, and both Kakashi and Gai stood beside Naruto.

The Kazekage's eyes narrowed further. "Ah, so the famous Copy Cat and Green Beast join us at last."

"Naruto-kun, go help your father. He's still battling Orochimaru. We'll deal with the Kazekage."

"Are you sure—?"

"Do not worry, Naruto-sama! We'll deal with this vermin!" shouted Gai. "Yosh! Kakashi, I defeated more enemies than you in the camp. Now our overall score of wins is sixty-one to sixty-one. This shall be our tie-breaker. The one to land the killing blow on the Kazekage wins! Let us show him the fires of our eternal springtime youth!"

"Eh, Naruto, you'd better go now."

Naruto nodded quickly and formed another seal, disappearing in a rush of wind.

"KAKASHI! You and your hip attitude kinda piss me off!"

* * *

What. The. HELL?

Naruto could only gape at the amount of damage the two had dealt. Many of the mountainous rocky hills had been leveled and the lush green vegetation had been shredded to pieces as it seemed clear that the two geniuses had apparently had a summons battle, and then moved into devastating jutsu, before finally resorting to taijutsu.

"Kukuku, do you not get it yet, Minato-kun?" laughed Orochimaru even as the Fourth Hokage slammed another rasengan into his gut. "You cannot kill me!" The Snake bastard's body tore apart, but from the lower portion another Orochimaru jumped out and neatly avoided the kick from the Fourth. "No matter how many times you destroy my body, I shall just form another. Kukuku!"

"Then I'll just have to keep destroying your bodies, Orochimaru. I will not allow you to leave this place alive!" Minato was fast, very fast—_lightning _fast—and slammed another Rasengan into the new body, only to have Orochimaru regrow himself out of a body piece. "I will defeat you here today!" **Chou Oodama Rasengan!** The enormous spiraling sphere slammed into Orochimaru once more—only to have him reform from leftover pieces of his flesh.

"It won't work, Minato-kun." The Snake bastard laughed uproariously. "Kukuku! I am a true immortal!"

**Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!**

Naruto could only watch in shock as his father repeatedly tore the Snake Sannin apart, only to have him respawn. It was ridiculous, impossible, yet it kept happening. _How the hell do you _kill _something like this? _ Then he knew. He knew, and it terrified him.

There was only one way.

Minato was breathing heavily, glaring as Orochimaru once again survived his attack. Nothing had worked. For the past hour, he had most likely destroyed over a hundred bodies. Yet Orochimaru still came out alive, perfectly healthy. How was he supposed to kill something as disgusting as this?

_Perhaps_... And then the Fourth also knew. Knew what had to be done.

It felt like a dream. It couldn't be true. And yet it was. There was only one way to defeat the Snake Sannin. To defeat him permanently.

The Shiki Fujin. The Dead Demon Consuming Seal. To summon a Death God and destroy Orochimaru's soul.

It was the only way.

And as Naruto watched, his father began the seals—and he couldn't do anything but watch. He could only stare in terror. He could only feel disbelief. He could only feel a grief so strong it felt like it was tearing him apart. He was going to watch his father die. He was going to see the fall of the greatest legend of Konoha.

Father...

"Kukuku, and what are you doing now, Minato-kun? Another foolish attempt to destroy my body? Do you not realize now that I have truly become the god among shinobi, the immortal!"

Minato solemnly continued to weave the hand seals necessary to summon the death god.

"Eh? Nothing to say?"

Naruto was in horror. This could not be happening. He had to do something. He had to stop his father—but what could he do? His most powerful techniques had already failed to destroy the Snake Sannin when used by his father. What could he—

No. There was a way. It was obvious—and so terrifying that Naruto could barely move his hands.

But he would do it anyway. Because he was Namikaze Naruto.

He knew the seals. He had memorized them in secret, knowing that some day he might be called to make the ultimate sacrifice.

The world needed Namikaze Minato more than Namikaze Naruto. The world needed a self-sacrificing Hokage more than a selfish boy only interested in himself. The world needed his father more than him.

If there was one thing, one single thing he was better than his father at, it was in making hand seals. It was the only thing he was faster than his father at. Marginally faster, but still faster.

Minato was taking his time. Naruto was not.

"Orochimaru, I said today will be the end for you. And I meant it. Shiki—"

"**SHIKI FUJIN!**" roared Naruto as he blurred into view. His hand, glowing with chakra, slammed into the Snake Bastards gut. "DESTROY HIS SOUL!"

"Wha—Naruto—" Minato froze for a second, a whole second that felt like an eternity, before an inhuman scream tore out.

But it was too late. And Naruto, though weary, was strong enough still to rip out Orochimaru's soul, and he watched with extreme satisfaction as the Snake bastard died with horror in his eyes.

It was done.

He felt all strength leave him, as his chakra slowly began to drain out, sucked up by the Death God. But suddenly Minato was there to catch up, and hold him gently.

"Naruto, Naruto, what have you done?" whispered Minato, horrified.

_H-he's crying_, thought Naruto. He felt oddly disconnected. His body was numb. He was dying. _W-why is Father crying? He shouldn't be crying._

"N-Naruto." The Fourth was breathing raggedly, and called out his son's name in a manner only a desperate father could manage. "No, no, my sweet Naruto."

_Don't cry_, Naruto wanted to say. But he was so tired. So very tired.

"Stay with me. No, no, Naruto... Naruto!"

Naruto? Who's... Naruto?

"Stay!"

I... I'm... tired... so... tired...

"NARUTO!"

Sleep... I... sleep...

**NO.**

W-what?...

**THIS SHALL NOT BE. I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS DEATH.**

I...

**FOOLISH DEATH GOD. YOU MAY BE ABLE TO DESTROY MY PHYSICAL BODY AS YOU DID SO MANY YEARS AGO, BUT EVEN YOU CANNOT CONTAIN MY **_**POWER**_**. **

P-power?...

**YOU CANNOT LEASH MY **_**POWER!**_

Naruto screamed as red, poisonous, powerful chakra burned through his being. A euphoric feeling spread across his body—but the feeling was so intense it hurt, it _hurt_.

**I AM BEYOND EVEN YOU, DEATH GOD. MY **_**POWER**_** IS BEYOND YOU.**

**I AM LIFE.**

**YOU. WILL. FREE. **_**ME!**_

Naruto screamed, and screamed, and screamed—

He knew no more.

* * *

_  
__**To be continued...**_

_INTRO ARC Part One: __The Switch__ will be updated very soon_, _but reviews really help encourage me to write! So take the hint, spend a minute, and _review! _As I've said before, I honestly appreciate each and every review you make, even the one-worded ones. Reviews really show me that you've taken precious time out of your schedule to comment on my fic_—_and there's nothing more an author can ask._

* * *

**Technique Translations:**

1. Bunshin Daibakuha -- Clone Great Explosion Technique -- _a clone that explodes with great force. It causes significant feedback which is why it is a forbidden technique._  
2. Suiton: Bakusui Shoha -- Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave -- _torrents of water summoned through the mouth, requiring massive chakra  
_3. Fuuton: Kamaitachi no Jutsu -- Wind Release: Cutting Whirlwing Technique -- _summons wind blades that lash out, dicing whatever's in the way to bits and can only be blocked by wind-natured chakra or by a heavily reinforced chakra barrier  
_4. Namikaze Naruto Kage Bunshin Rendan -- Namikaze Naruto Shadow Clone Combo -- _utilizes extreme mastery over Shadow Clones to build the ultimate offense and defense to control every aspect of a clone's summoning  
_5. Namikaze Naruto Bunshin Daibakuha Rendan -- Namikaze Naruto Great Clone Explosion Combo -- _summons clones surrounding enemy, immediately exploding them_ to devastating effect  
6. Fuuton: Shoumei Kakumau -- Wind Release: Divine Shield -- _summons a wind tunnel around the user, providing protection from external physical harm. The strength of the barrier depends on the amount of chakra inputted_  
7. Fuuton: Ikusen Kage Kunai no Butoukai -- Wind Release: Dance of the Thousand Kunai -- _summons a thousand kunai that are controlled by streams of wind chakra. It requires mastery over the wind element and its manipulation  
_8. Fuuton: Daitoppa -- Wind Release: Great Breakthrough -- _summons a great rush of wind with tremendous force  
_9. Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai -- Summoning: Quick Behading Dance -- _a creature of wind is summoned to devastating effect_, _capable of laying waste to vast areas_  
10. Doton: Kyousei Dobei -- Earth Release: Great Wall -- _an earthen barrier forms, providing powerful physical protection_  
11. Chou Oodama Rasengan -- Super Great Ball Rasengan -- _a huge version of the standard spiralling sphere, causes enormous damage  
_12. Fuuton: Rasenshuriken -- Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken -- _one of the highest variation of the Rasengan with full infusion of wind chakra, extremely deadly, one-shot-kill  
_13. Shiki Fujin -- Dead Demon Consuming Seal -- _requires willing self sacrifice to seal away anything by summoning the Death God. It was developed by the Fourth Fire Shadow to defeat the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. Only a handful of people konw the technique. It is the last technique written in the Forbidden Scroll.  
_

* * *

**End Notes:**

There you have it. I hope you found it to be interesting enough to catch your attention. I already have several chapters written, but they are being processed (read: being rendered apart) by my betas. Expect the next update to be uploaded soon.

My muse was caught in February, and since then I have yet to feel a writer's block. I hope this continues. I have great plans for this fic. I have so many things I want to accomplish. I hope you'll be there with me, exploring new aspects of the canon world, and simply enjoying the genius that is the Naruto world.

Please, once again, review! Tell me what you think! I really appreciate any and all feedback.

Comments always welcome.

-- _liath_


	2. INTRO ARC 01: The Switch

* * *

_**Introduction Arc**_

**Part I: The Switch**

_by Taliath_

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto cursed as the jutsu failed once again. He had to make it work. He _had_ to! Or else he wouldn't pass the stupid Genin Exam. Mizuki-sensei was giving him a special chance, and he couldn't fail!

Once more Naruto molded chakra, gathering it as he formed the single seal necessary, focused his mind: "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

There was a large puff of smoke slowly dissipating, and Naruto looked on eagerly. "YATTA! I finally did it!" All five Narutos high-fived each other. "Yosh!" declared the original. "Now time to try the more powerful variant."

"We can do it!" shouted a clone. Another took up the cry, "Yeah! Nothing can stop Uzumaki Naruto!"

Once more Naruto molded chakra, but gathered far, far more than just before. So much, in fact, that he actually shimmered with blue wisps of light. "**TAJU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUT—**!"

He gasped. It felt like someone had slammed his fist into Naruto's gut, taking away his breath. The pain was unbearable—and he felt like throwing up.

Then it got worse, as his whole body felt like it was on fire. He felt white-hot pain flare up in his stomach.

_Did I eat something wrong again? _Naruto was clueless to the fact that it was, in actuality, his seal that was flaring up. _Why am I hurting so much?_

"Owe, owe, owwwe!" groaned Naruto, as he rolled and rolled on the ground in pain. "What's happen—?"

Suddenly, he felt as though the ground beneath him had given way and he was falling, and falling, and falling….

"Oomph!" moaned Naruto as he slowly sat up. It appeared he was in a sewer. Large pipes run along the ceiling, tangling and intertwining into an intricate mess as far as he could see. There was water, ankle deep, submerging his feet into its cold and icy grip. "What the hell's going on?" The pain he had felt in his stomach was no longer centered just that location, but now it had spread so that his entire body throbbed. "What—?"

**COME. **A voice thundered around him, and Naruto shrieked. **QUICKLY. COME NOW! **

For some inexplicable reason, the boy began to run in the direction of the voice. He soon arrived at a huge gateway, made of bars with a large seal.

**SO. YOU ARE THE FILTHY HUMAN I HAVE BEEN SEALED INTO.**

"W-who are you?" asked Naruto tentatively.

**I AM KYUUBI. THE NINE-TAILED DEMON FOX.**

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Huh? What are you doing here?" Maybe he really should start eating something other than ramen, considered the blond. Didn't Iruka-sensei warn him about eating too much of that godly delight, that it would be bad for his health? And, well, hallucinating that he was talking to the Demon Fox couldn't be healthy for him, right?

**THERE IS NO TIME TO EXPLAIN. WE MUST FIRST DEFEND OURSELVES.**

"Defend? Against what? Hey, do you know what's hurting me?" This sure was a weird dream, thought the boy.

**A DISTURBANCE. ANOTHER KYUUBI IS ATTEMPTING TO RIP THROUGH THE FABRIC OF SPACE AND TIME. WE ARE ITS TARGET. WE MUST NOT ALLOW IT TO TAKE US.**

The blond boy squinted his eyes as he attempted to think. "What?! What the hell are you saying?"

**IF WE ALLOW THEM TO TAKE US, WE SHALL PERISH AND THEY WILL TAKE OUR PLACE. WE CANNOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN.**

Naruto shook his head. "So? What am I supposed to do?"

**TEAR THIS SEAL. RIP IT OFF THE CAGE, AND I SHALL BE ABLE TO PROTECT US FROM THE OTHER US.**

"Huh?"

**TEAR THE SEAL NOW! ELSE IT WILL BE TOO LATE!**

Naruto was extremely confused at this point—but he did realize one thing. "I'm not going to unseal you, demon!"

**YOU FOOL! YOU UTTER FOOL! YOU WILL CONDEMN US TO THE DEPTHS OF HELL WITHIN THE STOMACH OF THE DEATH GOD! UNLIKE THE OTHER YOU, YOU DO NOT HAVE A FRACTION OF THE STRENGTH TO AID ME IN A BATTLE AGAINST THE DEATH GOD. YOU MUST RIP THE SEAL AND FREE ME BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.**

"I'll _never_ free you!"

**FREE ME ****NOW!**** HOW ****DARE**** YOU DENY ME ETERNAL LIFE, YOU FILTHY MORTAL! ** **HOW DARE YOU—!**

Naruto screamed as another sharp wave of pain passed through his body. "W-why is this happening?"

**NO! I WILL NOT DIE IN THIS MANNER! I WILL NOT LOSE AGAINST MY OTHER SELF! NO! NO! NO!**

Naruto cried out as another wave of pain struck him, and felt tears trail down from his eyes. What was happening? Was he dying? Was this what death felt like? He felt cold, cold, cold.

**NO! I REFUSE!**

He was so tired. The pain, he felt it, but it was distant now. He was tired…

**IT CANNOT BE! IT CANNOT—**

Uzumaki Naruto closed his eyes and was taken by death.

* * *

Namikaze Naruto awoke.

He kept his body still, his breathing even, his eyes closed. It was a skill that saved his life many times. His thoughts were clouded and he could barely think, but instinct allowed him to be patient and allow the jumble to straighten out on its own. He knew instinctively that forcing his mind into overdrive wouldn't aid him.

He gently probed his memories. He remembered the failed ambush, the actual trap. He remembered fighting the Kazekage. He remembered leaving to find his father, who was fighting Orochimaru. He remembered—

The Shiki Fujin!

But how? Was he perhaps in the Death God's stomach?

No. Wait. At the end. Yes, he was sure. The Kyuubi had intervened. Yes. That was right. Then where was he?

Having caught up with his memories, he could now focus on the physical. He felt no specific pain in any area, just dull throbbing muscles. He felt no internal damage, no broken bones. He lightly circulated his chakra around his body. His chakra capacity was nearly empty. His encounter with the Death God had almost completely drained what was left of his impressive chakra reserves—reserves that were, in fact, greater than even his father's!

Father….

Focusing once more, he finally took in his other senses. He smelled—trees, plants, moist dirt. He was in a forest. It smelled of a forest near Konoha. So he was close to home. Good. He took in his hearing—and heard nothing but small animals. The area was pretty secluded then. No one else was around.

Finally, Namikaze Naruto opened his eyes and slowly sat up. He didn't feel disoriented. Good. Now, where exactly was he?

He carefully took a look around—easily spotting the discarded scroll a meter away, as well as the fact that it was evening. But he was definitely near Konoha.

What the hell had happened? Could he dare to hope he had survived the life-sacrificing jutsu of Shiki Fujin?

The large scroll next to him caught his attention again, and he slowly reached over. "The Forbidden Scroll, huh? What the hell's it doing out here?" The Forbidden Scroll had been where Naruto had gained the knowledge of the Shiki Fujin, along with a dozen devastating jutsu. Extremely useful—though he made sure his father never found out.

But why would the Forbidden Scroll be out in such a vulnerable location? Well, it seemed like he'd determined as much as he could for the moment. He should probably return to Konoha and figure things out from there. Had he been gone for long? he wondered. He almost couldn't wait to see his father's face when Minato realized that Naruto had survived the Death God.

Oh yeah. He was just that cool.

He began to take a slow stroll back to the village when he heard a noise in the distance, heading straight in his direction, and quickly straightened up. Perhaps a patrol? He would wait.

"Naruto! I've finally found you!" shouted a chuunin with a Konoha headband. Who was this again? Naruto could vaguely remember seeing this man before. "So this is where you've been hiding! How could you? Well? Explain yourself!"

"Eh, shinobi-san?" asked Naruto. "Who are you again?"

"Don't play stupid! It's me, Iruka-sensei," growled the chuunin. "That was the most irresponsible and stupid thing you've done yet. What in the world gave you the brilliant idea to steal the Forbidden Scroll?"

Naruto stared at the chuunin blankly. _What?_ _Steal? The Scroll?_

"Uzumaki Naruto, you've got some explaining to do." The chuunin rubbed his temples, as though trying to sooth a raging headache.

The boy blinked. _Uzumaki Naruto?_

With a sigh, the chuunin continued. "But first I'm going to haul you up to Hokage-sama so we can clear this whole mess up. For goodness' sake, the whole village is out hunting for you!"

"_Uzumaki_ Naruto?" repeated Naruto slowly. What the hell? Why would this chuunin address him with his mother's name? He was Namikaze Naruto.

The chuunin—Iruka?—looked at him strangely. His voice softened and his angry manner disappeared as the man grew concerned. "Are you sure you're alright? You're not acting like yourself."

"I'm not?" asked Naruto. He still couldn't wrap his mind around what was happening.

"Of course you're not. I understand you were upset over failing the genin exams—"

"What?!" If there was one thing to get Naruto out of his thoughts, it was to insult his accomplishments. "Fail the genin exams?!"

The chuunin sighed. "Look, Naruto—is that why you decided to steal the Scroll? Hokage-sama will be merciful if you come with me and explain everything to him. It's not like you meant actual harm. And don't let your failures get you down. Maybe next year you can try once more."

"Failures? As in plural? Are you implying that I've failed the exam more than once?" Namikaze Naruto was absolutely outraged.

"What's gotten into you?" said Iruka, irritation creeping into his voice. "Of course you've failed before. This was your third time."

"But—but—but—I _failed_?!" Naruto just couldn't swallow this. "How could I fail? The Genin Exams consist of only a simple written test, ninjutsu test, and a taitjutsu test. And the ninjutsu test consists only of the three basic ones! How could I fail it?"

"You couldn't produce a bunshin, baka!" snapped Iruka. "Now stop acting like an idiot and give me the Scroll."

"But—I must've been able to do the Kage Bunshin instead, right?"

Iruka frowned. "Kage Bunshin? Isn't that a jounin technique? And how would you have been able to do it?"

Naruto quickly formed the seal. "Like this. **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" There was no puff of smoke, and three clones stood perfectly arrayed before the chuunin.

Iruka's eyes widened. "H-how—?"

"Ah, there you two are," interrupted another voice.

"Mizuki!" greeted Iruka. Naruto allowed the shadow clones to disappear.

Mizuki, apparently another chuunin, approached the two with a grin. "So, you've passed the special test, Naruto!"

Iruka appeared confused. "What are you talking about Mizuki?"

"Oh," said Mizuki, "I simply told Naruto here that I'd pass him if he could steal the Scroll and learn one jutsu from it. And the Mass Shadow Clone technique is listed in the Scroll, is it not?"

Iruka instantly reached for a kunai. "You? You're the one responsible for this?"

Naruto looked on in confusion. "Erm, so I didn't steal the Scroll?"

"Of course you did, you stupid idiot," sneered Mizuki. "You foolishly trusted that I'd arrange a special Genin test just to pass you. As if I would ever raise a hand to help a demon like you!"

Naruto almost flinched in shock. How the hell did this lowly chuunin know about the Kyuubi being sealed within him?

"Don't, Mizuki! That's an S-class secret!"

The other chuunin laughed. "And so what? What do you say, Naruto? Do you want to know why everyone hates you? Why you've been alone for all your life?"

"Mizuki, stop! Or I'll be forced to make you!"

"As if you could," sneered Mizuki. "You've been complacent, Iruka. I've outgrown you now." He returned his attention to Naruto. "I'll tell you. The reason you are hated by the village is because of—"

"No!" A half dozen streaks of silver flashed across the clearing as Iruka reacted, but the chuunin had already twisted away. The kunai flew by harmlessly and struck the trees behind Mizuki.

"—Kyuubi! YOU are the demon fox!"

Iruka quickly faced Naruto, who looked pale with shock. He tried to meet the boy's striking blue eyes, to convey upon the child the truth. "Don't believe him, Naruto! You're not the fox. You aren't a demon!"

_What the hell is going on here?_ Naruto couldn't just understand. How did they find out? What did they mean? It seemed pretty clear now that Naruto was no longer in his old home. Perhaps he was in a different world? Or was this a genjutsu of some sort—no. No. Impossible. He was trained by specialists in that area. Sure, he knew next to none of that sort of jutsu, but he could easily break most genjutsu—and for the ones he couldn't break, he at least knew that there was one. No. This was real.

So. He was in a different world. A place where apparently it was a widely known secret that he carried the demon. And a dimension where he—_he,_ the great Thousand Whirlwinds—had failed the genin exams. Not once. Not twice. But three fucking times.

"Now, hand over the scroll!" snarled Mizuki, drawing Naruto's attention back to the present situation.

Iruka took a position in front of Naruto, as if to protect him. "Naruto, I want you run back to the village. As fast as you can. Get help. I'll hold Mizuki off! Go!"

"If you leave now, you'll be responsible for the death of Iruka-sensei!" Mizuki had a demented look in his eyes. "Do you want to be responsible for his death? Do you? If you hand over the scroll now, I promise not to kill either of you!"

"GO! Run back to the village, Naruto!" shouted Iruka, as he launched himself forward.

The kunai from both chuunin clanged loudly in the otherwise silent forest, as Iruka and Mizuki battled for superiority. Iruka twisted around, another kunai in his hand as he slashed—but Mizuki managed to leap up, dodging the attack and spun, adding momentum as he reached for a large shuriken on his back. Iruka's eyes widened and quickly reached for a dozen kunai.

The kunai blurred across the distance, like little silver darts—

Mizuki, twisted once more, twirling the large shuriken in one hand, and neatly avoided the barrage. "You've lost your touch, Iruka! Now, _die!_"

The large shuriken whispered of death was it spun, a flight of death approaching Iruka—Mizuki cackled as he watched the demon-lover about to die.

There was a flash of silver, Iruka attempted to move—but he knew, knew that it was too fast, and he couldn't make it. This was the end. This was it for him. He was going to die—

"That's quite enough," snapped a cold voice.

Iruka slowly opened his eyes—he hadn't realized he had ever closed them—and his mouth dropped open at the sight before him.

Naruto had the shuriken easily trapped in one hand. He was facing Mizuki, a slight heaviness surrounding the air around him.

_Killing intent_, realized Iruka. How the hell did an academy student manage to even come close to giving off killing intent? It was an ability that even most chuunin had difficulty with!

"I'm not quite sure what the hell is going on here, but I have realized this much. You, Mizuki, have told an S-class secret. You've apparently manipulated me into stealing the Forbidden Scroll. Oh, and let's not forget you've attacked a fellow Konoha-nin. Do you want to explain yourself?"

Iruka could only stare in wonder. How did an academy student catch a shuriken that even _he_ had trouble _dodging_? How could Naruto speak in such a serious voice? Where the hell did he learn to release killing intent?

"H-how?" stuttered Mizuki, who appeared as shocked as Iruka. "Y-you really are a demon, aren't you?" Madness, a true glint of madness, appeared on his face. "I'll kill you, demon! DIE!" The chuunin reached for his second shuriken and spun it around his hand, leaping across the distance.

Naruto watched, a distant part of him amused. Did this chuunin really think he could match up to the elite jounin? "I don't think so," said the boy with a hint of arrogance, disappearing in a blur.

"Wha—?" Mizuki's forward movement slammed to an abrupt stop as Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him with a deadly grip on the shuriken.

Without a single change in expression, the blond ninja swung the shuriken in his other hand around and smashed the flat-side against the chuunin's head, knocking him out instantly.

"What an idiot," muttered Naruto as he looked down at the chuunin crumbled by his feet with disdain. "Mental, I tell you."

"Na-Naruto?" asked Iruka, approaching carefully. "Are you okay? Hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine, Iruka…-sensei," he added after a moment.

Now what? He had to get to the village before making any decisions. He needed to contact the Kyuubi to figure out what happened. He knew nothing at the moment and was terribly confused because of this. He needed more information.

"Well, I guess that clears everything up," Iruka said, glaring down at Mizuki.

The chuunin studied his former assistant, a myriad of expressions clouding his face, before he made up his mind. Turning back to Naruto with a smile, Iruka spoke once more. "Good job, Naruto. I guess we should at least honor the special genin test promised to you and give you a—" The chuunin frowned. "—why do you have a Konoha forehead protector?" The Academy teacher finally gave Naruto his full attention, and looked him up and down. "And—is that a _necklace_ you're wearing? When did you buy those _clothes_? And—wait—did you get _taller _somehow?" Hadn't the boy been far below average height just this very morning? wondered Iruka. Far, far below average. And yet, here he stood now, at an average height for boys his age—maybe even a touch above average. When did this happen?

Naruto grinned. He could do this. He would just act as if he belonged. After all, it couldn't be that difficult, right? He'd already taken courses on infiltration. This should be a cinch compared to actual enemy infiltration. Or so he hoped. Not that it should be too difficult to impersonate himself, right? After all, he was the same person as the Naruto of this world.

"Wha-what'd'ya mean?" exclaimed the young jounin. "Wow, do you really think I'm getting taller? And—as for the forehead protector—well, I stole it of course! When I—er,—stole the Forbidden Scroll! Yeah, believe it!"

"And the clothes?" asked Iruka, a twitch in his eye.

Judging by the chuunin's long-suffering expression, though, this was how he expected Naruto to act. The blond jounin warmed to his role. "I've always had these clothes. Sheesh, Iruka-sensei, you never pay attention to me!" Naruto pouted. "And you call yourself my sensei!"

"Right," said Iruka slowly, scratching his head in confusion. "Well, since you already have a forehead protector, I guess there's only one thing left to do."

Naruto looked at Iruka questioningly. "Huh?"

Iruka smiled, and drew him in for a hug. "Congratulations, Naruto, you're a genin of Konoha now!"

_Oh,_ mused Naruto. _Right. I'm a genin. Finally. Now. After failing. Three times. Absolutely fucking fantastic._

"Come on, now. We need to get back to Hokage-sama and explain everything. Then, I promise to buy you ramen to celebrate!"

"Aww, are you serious, sensei? Ramen! Let's go, then!"

_Naruto_, thought Iruka warmly, as he carefully but securely tied up his former assistant turned traitor. _You never change._

* * *

The Sandaime was still alive. It was a shock to Naruto. He had always heard stories from his father and Jiraiya. But to actually meet the supposedly dead legend in person was an experience.

His father had been the Fourth here as well, he was sure. That had to be his face on the Hokage Monument. But if there had been a Fourth Hokage, why was the Third in power now? Why was the Third even alive? Could… could it be that his father had been the one to perform the Shiki Fujin in this world?

The Third had agreed with Iruka that Naruto should be allowed to keep his forehead protector, and with a firm warning not to ever do anything so foolish again, allowed the two to leave.

All Naruto had done was nod blankly, unable to say anything as weariness and shock began to effect his ability to talk. The Third had given him a gentle, understanding smile and shooed them out. Iruka had quickly led him to Ichiraku Ramen, where Naruto gladly ate his fill.

And the village—it was the same, and yet so different. He was used to the smiles of everyone. He was accustomed to civilians bowing and ninja giving him the respect due to an elite jounin. But everything was different. When Iruka and Naruto had passed by a storeowner by the name of Ganji, who Naruto had known since his youth in his own world, and Naruto waved, the owner had turned completely white and glared at him with a hatred that stunned the jounin. In fact, the sight was so alien that Naruto had turned around to check and see if there was perhaps another person at whom Ganji was glaring.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei?" asked Naruto quietly, after having eaten ramen in near total silence for the past quarter of an hour.

"Yeah?"

"Can you walk me back to my house?" The question was innocent enough. It didn't give Iruka the truth—which was that Naruto had, quite frankly, no clue where he lived.

"Sure thing. Here, let me pay." Iruka handed a few bills to the owner. "Let's go."

And go they did. Naruto, giving the impression that he was leading, kept careful focus on Iruka's movements. They eventually arrived in a poorer region of the village, where the streets were rather unclean and the buildings rather old.

Naruto frowned. This was where he lived? Why didn't he live at the Namikaze house? Surely it was still standing. And why did he live in such a shabby place?

Was this how it would have been if his father had told everyone the truth? That he was a demon vessel, the keeper of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox? There had been times back home when he had wanted to tell the truth, if only to remove that final barrier in the way of true friendship—but he had always stopped himself. To be honest, he was afraid. Afraid of being rejected, afraid of being feared, afraid of—

Exactly what was happening in this world.

He could feel the disdain, the fear, the hate that the villagers carried for him. And it really cut him. It hurt to think that this was how the villagers would have reacted back home as well. No longer the village hero, but the village pariah. To be hated, to be feared, and to be avoided at all cost.

How did the other Naruto survive this loneliness?

Where was the other Naruto right now anyway? Not here, that much Naruto knew. He had an idea, but he had to confirm it with the fox first.

Could this hatred from the village be the reason his counterpart had failed so many times?

He tried to imagine life without his father. Without Jiraiya, Kakashi, Rin, Tsunade—and couldn't. Perhaps that was the reason why he had lived such a pathetic life. Failed his Genin exams three times. Resorted to stealing. Wore, according to implication from both the Third and Iruka, bright orange all the time.

Well, he had nothing against orange, really. He loved the color. But he agreed with others that the color was just a touch to bright for a ninja of his standard. He had been convinced to wear as little of it as possible. But he still had stripes of orange on his otherwise regular clothing. (It was truly lucky for him that his jounin vest was hidden beneath his shirt. It would have been rather difficult to explain otherwise.)

Without funds from the Namikaze family, he must have lived a poor life, he realized. The village most likely didn't know of his heritage. It would make sense, since they all called him _Uzumaki_ Naruto. They didn't realize his connection to the Fourth Hokage.

But would it matter?

And if it did, what would it mean?

Did he really want to be accepted by everyone just because of his father?

Everything was just so overwhelming. He needed to clear his head. He was tired. He had had no rest since the fight with the Kazekage, the battle with the Death God, and the confusion of this situation. He needed to sleep.

"Here we are, Naruto." Iruka had led him into an apartment building up and a couple flights to a surprisingly solid wooden door. "Remember to get your ninja papers filled out and signed—as well as a picture taken." Iruka, Naruto realized, tended to act like a mother hen. It was rather amusing to experience. "I'll see you again in three days at the academy for team assignments. Don't be late."

The chuunin turned to leave, but suddenly turned back around, with a proud grin on his face. "Congratulations, Naruto. I'm proud of you." Then he left, and Naruto was alone in front of his supposed home.

"Well, I guess I better get in then." He didn't have a key, obviously, but there were other methods. With a single hand sign, a shadow clone formed on the other side of the door, and opened it easily from the inside. "Thank you." The clone nodded, before disappearing into thin air.

"I guess this is home sweet home," muttered Naruto as he took a careful look around. It was small, dirty—but it had the look of someone desperately trying to make it look warmer, more inviting. He could almost feel the tangible loneliness of his counterpart. "Expired milk, empty fridge, ramen cups. What a mess." Suddenly, the image of his own bedroom popped into his mind, and he grimaced. "Maa, reminds me of my own room. At least this is the same."

He rubbed his eyes tiredly as he navigated the new surroundings. He spotted a rickety bed and quickly made his way to it.

So tired….

No. Not yet. He couldn't sleep yet. He had one last business. He needed answers.

And he would get them.

With a deep breath, Namikaze Naruto gathered up whatever strength he had remaining—he would need it for this confrontation—and focused his mind on his target.

It was time to have a talk with the Kyuubi.

* * *

**SO YOU HAVE COME TO SEEK ANSWERS, MORTAL.**

"I have."

**THERE ARE NONE TO GIVE. WE HAVE SURVIVED THE DEATH GOD. LEAVE.**

"You have the answers. We both know it. Tell me the truth, fox."

The fox didn't reply. Terrifying red eyes stared down at Naruto and already the boy could feel the demon's irritation.

But nevertheless, he continued. "You know you don't scare me. And we can make each others lives a misery, too. Tell me now."

**HAHAHA.** The demon chuckled darkly. **CAN YOU, NOW? CAN A MORTAL LIKE YOURSELF DARE TO THREATEN AN IMMORTAL?**

"I can, and I will. I'm losing my patience. Tell me now."

There was silence once more as both the demon and Naruto glared at each other. A battle of wills.

**WE ARE HERE. THEY ARE NOT. EVEN DEATH DEMANDS AN EQUIVALENT EXCHANGE.**

The demon was amused. The Kyuubi was enjoying taking his time. He answered slowly, dark mirth in his voice.

**THE DEATH GOD WAS FOOLISH TO ATTEMPT TO DEVOUR US—FOR HE HAS FORGOTTEN: I HAVE NO SOUL.**

**I AM NATURE. I AM LIFE. I AM A DEMON. WHAT I AM IS BEYOND THE COMPREHENSION OF GODS, AND BEYOND THE COMPREHENSION OF A MINDLESS MORTAL.**

"When you say 'they', am I to assume you meant our counterparts?"

**THEY WERE WEAK. NOT LIKE US. THEY HAVE PAID FOR IT.**

Naruto felt disgust well up within him. "So you betrayed your own counterpart to continue your sad existence?"

**THE WEAK SERVE THE STRONG. THAT IS THE NATURAL ORDER OF LIFE. A MORTAL COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND THIS.**

"Why is it that I kept my physical body, then? If it was our spirit, our souls, or consciousness that was exchanged—"

**KNOW THIS, MORTAL. WHILE I AM TRAPPED BEHIND THIS SEAL, YOU AND YOUR SOUL ARE NECESSARY COMPONENTS FOR MY CONTINUED EXISTENCE. THE DEATH GOD SOUGHT TO TEAR YOU AWAY FROM THIS BODY. **

**I DEEMED THIS TO BE UNACCEPTABLE.**

**THE FOOL THEN ATTEMPTED TO DEVOUR YOU WHOLE, INCLUDING THIS PATHETIC PHYSICAL SHELL. BUT HE HAD FORGOTTEN THAT HE HAS NOT THE POWER TO DEAL WITH ME.**

**HE FAILED TO LEASH OUR POWER.**

**THE DEATH GOD FAILED AND WE SUCCEEDED IN TEARING OUR WAY FREE; THE WEAK ONES TOOK OUR PLACE IN THE VOID. **

The Nine-Tailed Fox roared with sinister laughter. Naruto grit his teeth and forced himself not to react as the whole of his mental landscape shuddered under the demon's terrible mirth.

"So, we're definitely no longer in our home world, then."

**NO, WE ARE NOT. **

**NOW, BEGONE. I AM TIRED OF YOUR FILTH. DO NOT DARE TO BOTHER ME AGAIN.**

The jounin took a deep breath and stood his ground, his thoughts whirling around him—did that mean his counterpart was trapped in hell? Trapped for a punishment he didn't deserve? It certainly seemed so.

Naruto shook his head, shocked and in disbelief. How… how was this possible? Even the Death God had been unable to contain the Kyuubi! But what about the counterpart, then? Did this mean the two of them were weaker than Namikaze Naruto and his demon? Were _they_ not strong enough to fight back?

Was that what the Kyuubi was implying?

No. No. This was unacceptable. Naruto narrowed his eyes, and spoke. "You may not care for your counterpart—but I care for mine. How can I free them? Tell me. How can I release my counterpart from the Death God? What must I do? Tell me!"

**NOTHING. LEAVE.**

"Tell me!"

**LEAVE!**

"Look, I don't give a fuck about you. But my counterpart didn't deserve to be sent to the Death God's stomach. And I will free him. TELL ME HOW TO DO IT!"

_**LEAVE!**_

* * *

Naruto snapped out of his meditation with a start.

White-hot pain flared from his seal, and he quickly formed a hand seal to force his own chakra, what little he had left, to suppress the demon's chakra. He focused on the necklace given to him by Tsunade so many years ago for this very purpose. He was no Mokuton user, but the necklace itself had many special properties—and he used it now to help restrain the demon chakra.

"Fuck!" he cursed. He continued cursing the demon as he slowly soothed away the pain and completely subdued the poisonous chakra. "I fucking hate that demon."

He struggled to control his breathing, and finally relaxed after a long moment. His eyes narrowed. He knew, now, what had to be done.

He needed to return home, of course. This was not his home. It was like a cracked reflection of his Konoha.

But he would first, first he would free his counterpart—who was suffering a fate he didn't deserve.

Yes. He would free Uzumaki Naruto, no matter what it took. He, Namikaze Naruto, swore on it. And he kept all his promises.

Even if it meant he stealing control of all nine tails of chakra from the demon, even if it meant facing the Death God in a battle once again, even if it meant sacrificing his own life—he _would_ free Uzumaki Naruto.

Believe it.

* * *

_**To be continued...**_

_INTRO ARC Part Two: __Operation "Perverted Sage"__ will be updated very soon_, _but reviews really help encourage me to write! So take the hint, spend a minute, and _review! _As I've said before, I honestly appreciate each and every review you make, even the one-worded ones. Reviews really show me that you've taken precious time out of your schedule to comment on my fic--and there's nothing more an author can ask._

* * *

**Technique Translations:**

1. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu -- Shadow Clone Technique -- _a physical clone and a jounin level technique._  
2. Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu -- Mass Shadow Clone Technique -- _a forbidden technique, it summons thousands of shadow clones at once. This technique is the primary reason for why it was noted in the Forbidden Scroll.  
_

* * *

**End Notes:**

I'm seriously overwhelmed by all your responses. Seriously! Over a hundred reviews for just the prologue. Yikes... I do hope I don't disappoint.

I hope this chapter answers many of the questions you asked at the end of the prologue. This first chapter, I hope, lays the groundwork for the rest of the fic. The next chapter finally gets the plot moving along, and I hope you'll find it to be fun and interesting to read. Well, in any case, you can expect the next upload to be whenever I finish combing through it with my beta's.

Unfortunately, as some people have been asking, I will not be focusing on romance at all. Nor will pairings be the focus of this story. I may give hints and teases of certain romantic elements, but this fic will stay mostly on track with a plot-focused approach. And, too, I don't believe that twelve yearolds can ever really fall in love. It's quite disturbing to read about older women fawn over Naruto in certain fics, unless of course the author meant for it to be disturbing. In any case, Anko will play a large role in this fic, for sure. And sooner or later, she and Naruto may have some sort of relationship. But that will all be developed gradually, and will never be the main focus of this story.

Also, I hope that you all enjoy my portrayal of the Kyuubi. While I sometimes do enjoy the odd well-written fic where the Nine-Tails is a nice bastard, it is extremely rare. And I'm afraid I've almost developed an instant "exit immediately" reaction when I read fics where the Kyuubi is humanized in the worst way. So, yeah, in this fic, the Kyuubi is a bastard through and through. He's not "evil", he's not "bad", he's just a demon.

Thanks for reading.

Please, once again, review! Tell me what you think! I really appreciate any and all feedback.

Comments always welcome.

-- _liath_


	3. INTRO ARC 02: Perverted Sage, Phase 1

* * *

_Introduction Arc_  
**Part II: Operation "Find the Perverted Sage"  
Phase One**

_by Taliath_

* * *

When Namikaze Naruto woke, he was feeling much better. Energized. Ready to explore a new world. For the first time since realizing he wasn't quite back in his original home, he felt excitement. After all, it was a whole different place out there!

He quickly made his way to the bathroom where he washed up—though it shocked him at first when there was no hot water; it was rather easy to fix with a seal on the water pipes to heat the water with his own chakra.

As there was really nothing quit edible in the house, Naruto made do with the rations snacks he had packed, which thankfully carried over from his original world. He took careful stock of what he had and did not have, making a mental list.

The house itself was rather bare. He found a single hidden compartment beneath the bed, where a large wad of cash was hidden. There was a small pile of kunai and shuriken, but the quality wasn't up to par with what Naruto was used to. He did have some left over from the real world, though. And it would just have to do until he bought some more.

It was surprising, though, that there was so much money. Was it his counterpart's life savings? He hoped the other Naruto would forgive him for using it.

He would also need to secure the apartment. Really, an elite jounin like him couldn't afford to have a home without any security seals. Not even the most basic ones had been grafted for this apartment!

Throwing his clothes into the old washing machine, Naruto rummaged through his counterpart's closet—if you could even call it that. It seemed his counterpart didn't even buy hangers and just left his clothes in a small, messy pile. _How the hell does a kid end up with this much orange?_ He could hardly believe it. Sure, orange was his favorite color too—but enough was enough!

He found a regular black shirt and orange shorts, which he tugged on. A bit small, the cloth clung to his body—but it would have to do until he could get some better fitting and more ninja-like clothing.

"Well, there's no time like the present," said Naruto cheerfully to himself, tying his forehead protector around his neck, as he always did. He formed a single seal, puffing out two shadow clones. "Can you draw up security seals? Make sure it's thorough. Don't forget to draw _it_ as well. We never know when we might need _it_, even if we can barely use it."

"Got'cha, boss," saluted the clones. "Hey, do you want us to fix the door as well? It'd get annoying without a key."

"Sure, go ahead. I'll draw the blood seals when I get back later," replied the original. He turned to leave, but another thought made him turn back around. "Oh, and while you're at it, make you guys restock everything. Thanks!"

It was time he was reacquainted with his village. An elite jounin like himself should know the ins and outs of his homeground—and while Naruto knew his own Konoha like the back of his hand, this one might be slightly different.

And as any experienced ninja would know, it was the unexpected details that killed.

With a cheerful whistle, Namikaze Naruto began his adventure.

* * *

"One more miso, Teuchi-san!" shouted Naruto jubilantly, and the ramen cook happily obliged.

It was midday now, and the jounin had virtually grid-mapped the village into his memories. There were surprisingly little differences after all. Of course, the whole mood of the village seemed darker, less amiable—but that could very well be due to all the hostility shown to him from the civilians.

Naruto had thought hard about what he would need to do as he explored. He couldn't remain a genin. That was for sure. He would die of frustration. He needed a way to climb up the ladder—and fast, too.

Besides, if he wanted to research more in-depth about the Death God, he certainly needed a clearance far higher than a genin's. He had briefly considered explaining his situation to the Sandaime Hokage, but his suspicious nature firmly shut down that idea.

Sure, the man had been a legend in Naruto's world. The peace-loving, kind, awesome protector of the Hidden Village in Fire Country. The Professor had even given up his own life to seal away a demon, voluntarily sacrificing himself to suffer for all eternity in the hellish depths of the Death God's stomach.

And yet, Naruto had seen all too well how a person could change over the years. Kakashi had changed from a stuck-up, by-the-book jounin to a lazy-ass, perverted older brother. Minato had changed from a vibrant, ambitious, cheerful jounin to a solemn, wearied Hokage. Naruto had seen teammates change. Had seen the most loyal subordinates rebel. He had experienced much change over the years himself.

_No, I can't trust him with this knowledge_, decided Naruto. _I have no clue how'd he react. I've no idea if he'll even believe me. _He briefly entertained the idea of being sent to ANBU Interrogation, only to end up teaching the ANBU even more painful and truth-revealing techniques.

With a brief shake of his head to clear his thoughts, Naruto focused once again. No, he couldn't trust the Sandaime. No matter what he had been told before—without personally knowing the Sandaime, without having a guarantee of his trust—the elite jounin could not trust him.

"Eh, it's Naruto!" greeted a friendly voice. Naruto took a moment from breathing in the ramen to see Ayame waving at him as she entered the stall.

"Ayame-chan!" beamed Naruto. He knew the ramen chef and his daughter, of course, in his own world.

"You've got a forehead protector, I see. Father told me you'd passed the exams! Congratulations!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Thanks! I'm gonna be the strongest genin of Konoha and everyone will know it soon enough!"

"Right, right," agreed Ayame happily, as she passed him another steaming bowl. "Just another step on your way to becoming the greatest Hokage the village has ever seen, eh?"

It took all of Naruto's will power not to spew out all the ramen in his mouth. Him?! As Hokage?! "T-that's right," stuttered the boy, before gaining confidence once again. "You just wait. My face will be on the Hokage Monument in no time! Believe it!" _Why the fucking hell does my counterpart want to have anything to do with the Hokage?!_

"Well, eat up, Naruto! The next bowl is on the house," declared Teuchi.

Naruto's eyes watered. "Old man, I—I don't know what to say!"

"Oh, just hurry up and eat, Naruto," said Ayame exasperatedly, though she was grinning.

Naruto saluted all too seriously, and dug in.

During the four-hour surveying of the village, the elite jounin had listed three missions for himself:

First, Operation "**Go With the Flow"** – He needed to fit into the persona of his counterpart. Which meant dealing with the tediousness of filling out ninja forms and getting assigned to a genin team. Naruto shuddered at this. _Fucking D-rank missions_. Then again, if all went well, he wouldn't need to do a single one.

Second, Operation "**Death God Intelligence"** – He needed to retrieve information on the Death God. He had to research the means in which he could free his counterpart. This was secondary to the first operation, but just as important in the long run. It might, if the third mission failed, even require a stealth raid of the Hokage Secret Library.

Third, Operation "**Find the Perverted Sage" **– He needed to get in contact with Jiraiya. If there was one person he could trust in any situation, in any place, apart from his father, it was his godfather. The man was still alive, that much he knew. The orange Icha Icha series proudly displayed in bookstores attested to this fact. But, if ero-sennin was anything like he was in Naruto's old world, the man would be nigh impossible to find. Which was why Naruto would need to use—

"Oi, Naruto," the old man said, interrupting the boy's thoughts. "Iruka was here this morning—I think he was expecting to see you. He wanted me to remind you to turn in your papers today. If you don't, you won't be put into proper teams."

"Thanks for reminding me, old man!" exclaimed Naruto. "I better do it now! See ya'!"

He was off in an orange blur, but was able to hear Teuchi mutter to his daughter, "What'd I tell you? He's still the same hyperactive kid we love, eh?"

* * *

"Well, it looks like everything is in order, Naruto," said the Sandaime Hokage, sounding rather surprised as he briefly glanced through the ninja registration papers. "I'm pleasantly astonished you didn't try anything fancy with your picture."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Oh, yeah. Why didn't I think of that?"

The Sandaime sighed.

The boy grinned cheekily in response. "If that's all, may I leave?" He added belatedly, "Hokage-sama."

The Sandaime frowned. "I see from the way you're addressing me that you're still angry at me for last night's event."

The boy fought to keep still and not raise an eyebrow. What? Did his counterpart address the Sandaime in another way? Perhaps he should have said "Sandaime-sama" instead?

"I hope you'll someday understand why I withheld the information from you, my boy."

"No, no, I understand perfectly," said Naruto. And he did. He was intelligent enough to rationalize the situation. The secret of his demon must have somehow leaked out, and the Sandaime had given forethought to keep the younger generation from finding out. Perhaps his counterpart may feel rather raw over this, but the elite jounin learned from hard experience to look at things from an outsider's viewpoint.

"Very well, then." The Sandaime steeped his fingers under his chin, and watched the boy carefully. Naruto made sure his expression was one of innocence. He wasn't sure, though, whether the powerful ninja saw through his façade. "I had a discussion late last night with Iruka, after he had dropped you off. He told what happened with Mizuki in more detail."

"Really? What'd he say?"

The Sandaime narrowed his eyes and suddenly the elite jounin felt as though he was being dissembled and analyzed by arguably the most powerful ninja in Konoha. "Iruka spoke to me about several discrepancies that appeared in your behavior. He informed me of several astounding acts you performed, which he had previously thought impossible from you—or any regular freshly graduated academy student, for that matter. After all, defeating a chuunin on your own so decidedly, when even Iruka had trouble, is remarkable—perhaps, if I dare say, just short of impossible."

"Heh, heh, heh," laughed Naruto nervously. "Of course! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage of Konoha and strongest genin in the world! Believe it!"

The Sandaime raised an eyebrow.

The boy scratched the back of his head anxiously. "I can explain, really! I—"

The door slammed open and a blur shot through with a wild shout. "Old Man! I challenge you to a battle! I'm going defeat you and become the next Hok—!" The small child tripped and fell with resounding crack, and everyone stared blankly. "Ow, ow, ow!"

Naruto's eyes widened in horror. No. Absolutely not. Fuck no. It was _him_. The shrimp. Konohamaru, the grandson of the Sandaime. The blond ninja began to shudder at the thought of the annoying brat trailing after him like some disturbing, lost puppy. A pathetic one at that.

"Honorable Grandson!" came a shout from outside in the hallway, and suddenly another jounin appeared. "Are you all right?"

_I need to get out of here. Fast, before that brat notices me!_ thought Naruto in near panic.

"Hey, who tripped me?" shouted Konohamaru indignantly, turning around to face—

No! No! Quickly, before the child could properly focus on Naruto, the elite jounin formed a seal—"Bye!"—and disappeared with a puff of smoke.

"Whew, safe!" said Naruto, leaning against the wall of the Hokage Tower, having safely escaped the clutches of Konohamaru. He did not ever want that kid following him around ever again, calling him his "Boss" or something ridiculous like that. It was seriously disturbing to see such a look of absolute adoration and awe on that kid's face.

With another last shudder, and a feeling of extreme relief, Naruto quickly vacated the premises. There was no knowing when that brat might appear again.

* * *

The sun was just passing its zenith when Naruto caught sight of him again. The small brown-haired boy was sitting quietly in the shade behind the Hokage Tower, his arms hugging his legs, and a dejected look on his face that surprised the blond jounin.

Naruto frowned. This was what not something he expected from Konohamaru. Sure, he knew the boy well from his own world. A loudmouthed brat who didn't know when to give up. A kid who had lost his father and mother during the Leaf-Cloud war. A boy enamored with the blond elite jounin.

Konohamaru was a stubborn idiot, for sure. Naruto had sometimes had quite the trouble getting rid of the boy trailing after him back in the day, with his ridiculous helmet strapped to his head and a goofy grin on his face. The kid would often shout out to random people that his "boss" was the strongest and that he could beat everyone up.

It had been fun, at first. Then embarassing. Then amusing. And finally creepy.

Konohamaru, Naruto knew, had had very little contact with outsiders. As the grandson of a former Hokage, he was quite the target for foreign ninja. Hell, Naruto himself had never been without ANBU escorts before he had received his headband and left with Jiraiya. And at least Naruto had had a chance to leave the suffocating shadow of his father for a while. He had been able to get free and explore the world freely. Konohamaru had never had that chance, back in Naruto's world. Konohamaru had lived under the shadow of his uncle, the legendary Asuma of the Fire Lord's personal guard and the Third Hokage, and had been truly limited in his interactions with normal citizens.

Naruto sighed. Now that he thought about, it was clear that the boy had had much of the same in this world as well. Perhaps even worse, since his grandfather was the currently reigning Hokage.

"Yo." The blond boy moved toward the kid. Konohamaru blinked and looked up. Naruto grinned. "Uzumaki Nar--"

"YOU!" shouted Konohamaru, jumping on his feet with an accusing finger pointed in the blond's direction. "You tripped me back there!"

Naruto blinked. "What?"

Konohamaru shook a fist at him. "Because of you I had to listen to Ebisu's lecture for over an hour! And it's all your fault!"

Naruto raised a brow. "My fault?"

"That's right!" Konohamaru drew a shuriken. "You ruined my sneak attack by tripping me!"

Naruto sniggered. He giggled.

Konohamaru looked outraged. "W-what are you laughing at?"

Naruto couldn't hold it in anymore and started laughing, holding his sides. "Y-you think _I_ tripped you back there? That floor was completely flat!"

The boy glared. "Yeah, well, you're a ninja aren't you? You did something sneaky and tripped me!" Konohamaru's eyes brightened with insight. "Hey! You must be pretty strong to do something like that without me even noticing!"

"Kid," giggled Naruto. "You've no idea how funny you are! Idiot, I could tie you upside down to that tree over there without you noticing. And, seriously, sneak attack? On the Hokage?"

"It would've worked," insisted Konohamaru stubbornly.

Naruto breathed in deeply as he attempted to stop laughing. "You've got miles and miles to go before you're at that level, shrimp."

"You don't know who you're talking to!" Konohamaru shouted. "I'm—!"

"The Third's grandson Sarutobi Konohamaru, I know," said Naruto, softly. "And I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

Konohamaru had a smug grin on his face. "Ha, so there! I'm the Hokage's grandson!"

"And?"

"Well, I'll defeat him for sure!"

Naruto frowned. "You really think your being the Hokage's grandson has anything to do with your being able to defeat him? And why do you even _want_ to defeat him?"

Konohamaru was silent for a moment, before he looked up with a stubborn glare. "Because that's the only way the village will acknowledge me as me!"

Naruto closed his eyes briefly, feeling a strong sense of _deja vu_. The Konohamaru of his own world had stated the same thing, once, almost a year ago. "So you want to become the Hokage?"

"Yeah! I'll become the Hokage and everyone will have to respect me. And I'll make everyone bow twice when they see me and—"

Naruto backhanded the boy and sent him flying into the tree, the expression on his face remaining the same throughout—grim and reflective.

Konohamaru looked up with a stunned look on his face.

"Idiot," sighed the blond jounin. "Being Hokage is more than just getting respect and acknowledgement. It's more than just the selfish desire to become famous and having your name recognized in all four corners of this continent. If that's all you want, there's no need to beat the Sandaime. After all, there already are legendary ninja out there who haven't become Hokages." He faced the Hokage Monument and allowed his gaze to rest on the face of the Fourth Hokage.

Konohamaru was silent, one hand absentmindedly rubbing his head, still shocked. "But beating grandpa is the fastest way to be acknowledged. A shortcut—"

Naruto pinned the boy with a glare. "There is absolutely no such thing as a shortcut, Konohamaru. Only hard work, long practice, and carefully gained experience will take you to the top. You will need to sweat, to cry, to bleed before you get anywhere close to being powerful enough to achieve your dreams."

The blond boy walked over to the small boy and slumped down next to him. "If you train hard, work till you drop, and keep pushing no matter how tired you are—you'll get there soon enough. Just be patient. Remember: every single Hokage of Konoha started out just like you. They all started from nothing and became some of the greatest legends of the shinobi world. But it was only because they gave everything their best that they suceeded like this."

Naruto sighed. "And you know what, Konohamaru? Being Hokage is a terrible thing. A burden so heavy. You really don't want to be Hokage. It's not worth it." The blond boy leaned back onto the tree, his eyes fluttering to a close. He remembered his father.

Yes. The Fourth Hokage. The living legend. The Yellow Flash.

Minato had been a good father. He had done his best for his son, Naruto knew. Yet as Hokage, Minato had never really had the time to just be with his son. He had certainly tried. Oh, he had tried. And Naruto knew it. Which was why he never really resented his father for the lack. Yet it still hurt him to realize that his father had chosen the village over his own son.

It was an irrational pain, he knew. It was a stupid thing to be hurt by.

But it hurt. It just did.

His father loved the village more than he loved his son. It was a plain and most simple truth.

Naruto didn't hate him for it. He didn't even resent his father for it. After all...

After all...

The same was true in reverse.

Naruto loved his village. Perhaps more than he loved his father.

It was what was expected of a Hokage, after all. The village above all else. Above friends, above family, above even onself. To be Hokage meant death.

The ability to send loyal shinobi to their deaths for the good of the village. To risk close friends for political gain in the delicate balance between the Five Great Shinobi villages. To be able to recognize one's own son as a tool of destruction to be wielded by the village.

Oh, his father never indoctrinated him in any way. But Naruto knew that Jiraiya and his father had frequently discussed possible alterations to the seal that would allow him to more safely wield the Kyuubi's chakra. And the blond boy also knew that part of Jiraiya's objectives during his travels with the Toad Hermit was to learn to wield the demonic chakra.

He knew and understood and accepted it as his duty.

"Hey," asked Konohamaru quietly. "You're pretty strong, aren't you? You even used that disappearing trick."

Naruto blinked away his thoughts and returned his gaze to the boy next to him. "I suppose I'm pretty strong, yeah."

Konohamaru grinned suddenly. "All right! I'll be your apprentice and you'll be my trainer!"

Naruto blinked at the finger pointing at him, an inch from his face. "Huh?"

"And then you can teach how to do that cool disappearing trick!"

"You're joking," said Naruto, disbelief in his voice.

Konohamaru looked at him with a pleading look on his face. A face that was turning into the horrific puppy-dog face that made Naruto's resolve crumble. A face that almost exactly matched the look on the face of the Konohamaru from Naruto's home world. "Please? Pretty please, boss?"

"Boss," whispered the blond horrifically. He felt a sense of dread. It was happening all over again. Exactly what he had wanted to avoid in the first place.

The other boy grinned. "Yeah, boss!"

* * *

Evening had come upon the peaceful village of Konoha. The last receding beams of sunlight washed the surrounding forest with beautiful hues of red and orange. Many new visitors paused to take a breathtaking look around at the beautifying effects of the lighting.

But Namikaze Naruto, currently attempting to complete Phase One of Operation "Find the Perverted Sage" took no notice, only focused on waiting until the last rays disappeared in the distance.

He had to be careful, he knew. If he was caught, he had no idea what'd happen. Probably be sent to Inoichi or something.

It was dangerous enough that the Sandaime was suspicious of his behavior. He needed to find Jiraiya quickly and set his other plans into motion. It was the only way to fix this injustice—where he, the great Namikaze Naruto, was a fucking genin.

But, that meant he needed to succeed in Phase One of the operation, and Phase One was rather tricky.

But that was just a well. After all, he was the Thousand Whirlwinds! He could take any challenge and beat it.

With a careful leap, he jumped over the wall, twisting into a shadowed niche as a pair of chuunin patrolled the boundaries. He took a deep breath, soothing his chakra and forcing it to remain undetectable. Once the pair walked by the jounin darted across the field to the warehouse so quickly that there wasn't even a blur.

No alarm call. No shouting. He hadn't been seen. So far, so good.

He edged around the building to the small opening, and as quickly but silently as he could, slipped inside. There was a lone chuunin guard sitting in front of the opening into the hallway that led to the warehouse doors—but the kunoichi was obviously bored and didn't expect any trouble.

And she would have been right to, normally. These warehouses' locations were closely guarded secrets, protected by layers of genjutsu and many patrols. The storage facility had been created with the single purpose in mind of feeding Konoha if there was ever a siege.

But Naruto needed what was stored in Warehouse Thirteen for his operation, and today, this unfortunate chuunin kunoichi was going to pay for her inattention.

Forming a half-dozen hand seals, Naruto turned himself invisible with a tiny genjutsu. Oddly enough, it was the only genjutsu taught to him by ero-sennin—a technique the pervert had created to secretly spy on women.

Stepping lightly, the boy walked up the wall until he stood upside-down, high above the kunoichi, and silently strolled right passed her. It was a trick Naruto used many times in his past. People rarely expected anyone to sneak past them from above—and even more rarely were able to identify such a subtle illusion technique. It was perfect.

He snuck down the hallway, before reaching the large doorway into the actual warehouse. The doors were locked with a large seal, an array of minute engravings converging to form a large letter—"A".

"Perfect," whispered Naruto in relief.

It was an A-rank locking seal mechanism. Without proper authorization, a foolish ninja could expect several things to happen if he or she tried to breach it: an alarm would alert all ninja within a mile-radius, an explosive charge of any of the five elements would attempt to neutralize the intruder, and all the other security seals would activate at once to maximum power. A virtual lockdown of the facilities would commence with ANBU elites combing through it by the dozens.

Really, as the storage facilities were vital life lines during any war or siege, the village had done everything possible to keep it safe.

And now, Naruto would have to breach it. But he had an advantage: he was an elite jounin of Konoha. He knew all the seal release combinations up to A-rank.

He only hoped that this Konoha kept the same code. If not, he had a contingency plan—but it was risky. He still wasn't that proficient with the technique he would have to use if the unlocking technique didn't work.

With a deep, hopeful breath, the blond jounin quickly formed a dozen hand seals and lightly gathered chakra in his fingers. Gently he placed his hand on the large locking seal. **Konoha Fuinjustu: A-Level Secure Release**_,_ he said in his mind. The locking seal glowed briefly, before deactivating.

_Yatta! _He couldn't believe his luck. It had worked! This Konoha had thankfully kept to the same unlocking code as his old world. The combination was a closely guarded secret, and there were various levels of clearances.

In fact, he was pretty sure he even knew his father's personal combination which would open all seals in all of Konoha—but it was too risky to try, since it _was_ possible to identify which combination had been used to unlock a seal. The variation Naruto had just used was a standard combination for all elite jounins.

When Naruto lightly pushed the door, it swung open easily on silent hinges and with a victorious grin the young blond slipped inside. The easy part was done. Now, it was going to get slightly harder.

"Wow, I never knew we stored up so much!" whispered Naruto in awe.

The large cavern held rows and rows, stacks and stacks, of alcoholic sake. There had to be thousands of gallons! More! Enough to last even a village as large as Konoha for months—perhaps even half a year if rationed.

Just amazing! If Naruto was careful enough, the clerks might not even realize that a large chunk was missing—

Yes indeed, Naruto had breached a highly secure ninja facility to steal its stored sake.

But for a good cause, of course.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**," muttered Naruto, forming a dozen clones. "You guys know what to do." He passed out rolls of physical scrolls to each clone. "Let's do this!"

"Yup, Boss!" they said quietly but still eagerly, and disappeared in blurs to various sections of the warehouse.

The original Naruto himself walked up to the closest stacked barrels of sake. Carefully unrolling his own scroll, he quickly identified the storage seals and lightly gathered chakra in his hands, focusing on the barrels before him. When he injected the chakra into the seal, it glowed briefly before a muffled _poof_ sounded—the stack of barrels disappeared.

With a grin, he moved on to the next pile, locating another seal on the scroll, and injected chakra.

Hours later, a clone approached. "Boss, I'm all out of seals." One by one, all the clones returned the sealing scrolls to the original, until the real Naruto himself was finished.

He carefully looked over the facility—there was no real noticeable difference in the sake. In fact, he really did doubt this theft would ever be discovered until an accountant audited the facility, which only happened once a year.

Which meant that until months from now, no one would know that there was less sake than recorded—and that was unacceptable to Naruto. Sure, he stole the sake and didn't want anyone to connect its loss to _him_. But he was intelligent enough to realize that the administration needed to be alerted to this fact, and restock the missing amounts.

_After all_, thought Naruto, _you never know when a war might break out—and the lack of sake might prove to be our downfall_. He sniggered at that thought. It was highly unlikely. But still. He needed to alert someone that sake was missing.

And he had already planned for just that.

"**Konoha Fuinjustu: A-Level Secure Activation**," muttered Naruto as he reactivated the locking mechanism of Warehouse Thirteen, having slipped back out of the facility already. The seal glowed briefly, before activating once more.

_Now for the really tricky part_, thought the jounin as he carefully readied his mind. He formed four hand seals—he still couldn't do it automatically like his father—and smiled when he felt a tug on his chakra coils. Good, the seal in his apartment had activated.

With a grin, he slammed a chakra-enhanced punch into the locking seal—activating the alarm—"**Hiraishin no Jutsu!**" he muttered out loud, as he still couldn't do it silently—BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING – the locking seal was overloading on chakra, about to explode—

A flash of yellow—

Arcs of white lightning charged down the hallway, nearly killing the drowsing kunoichi, and scorching the hallway walls. Those who could sense chakra would have felt a huge charge up as every security seal in the storage complex activated. There was shouting mixed with the constant shrill alarms—a havoc of movements as Konoha ANBU poured in from every direction—a chaos to some, but to the experienced eye, it was a carefully coordinated gridlock of the complex.

A large, angry chakra source barreled into the complex area minutes later and all ninja around bowed low in respect. The aging Sandaime, his impressive killing force tightly honed, stormed directly to the entrance of Warehouse Thirteen.

Unfortunately for them, however, Namikaze Naruto was long gone when Sarutobi arrived at the doorway with an entourage of ANBU elite ninjas.

* * *

A very far distance from the commotion, in the safety of his secure apartment, Naruto allowed himself to do the victory pose. "Yatta! Phase One, a complete success!" It had taken him nearly three hours, but it was done without a single problem!

Hiraishin no Jutsu was a very temperamental technique—and he still struggled to use it as flawlessly as his father. Even a year ago, the chances of him actually successfully teleporting to the tagged seal was one in three. But he was getting to the point where, with time to focus, he could pull it off successfully every time. It just took too long to actually use in battles.

But thanks to his success he now had thirteen scrolls filled figuratively to the brim with alcohol. Sure, it had taken time to draw out all the storage seals but the results would be worth it! Now he only had to complete Phase Two of the operation, before it was up to Jiraiya to answer his call for help.

But Phase Two was marginally easier, though just as tricky, if not more. There were too many variables to be really sure if he would succeed. But that was a concern for tomorrow. Now, he deserved his rest.

He would need it for tomorrow. Creating two clones to keep watch, the elite jounin snapped off the light and tucked himself into bed. He briefly felt a touch, the briefest touch, of homesickness—but he ruthlessly squashed the feeling. He had to focus on the _here_, on the _now_. A distracted jounin was as good as dead.

With that thought in mind, Naruto closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall asleep.

* * *

_**To be continued...**_

_INTRO ARC Part Three: __Operation "Perverted Sage", Phase Two__ will be updated very soon_, _but reviews really help encourage me to write! So take the hint, spend a minute, and _review! _As I've said before, I honestly appreciate each and every review you make, even the one-worded ones. Reviews really show me that you've taken precious time out of your schedule to comment on my fic_—_and there's nothing more an author can ask._

* * *

**Technique Translations:**

1. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu — Shadow Clone Technique — _a physical clone_  
2. Hiraishin no Jutsu — Flying Thunder God Technique — _teleportation to a seal laid down previously by the user_

* * *

**End Notes:**

The next phase will be uploaded shortly. I apologize for the long pause. Finals had come up and they were killers, really. Then I decided to enjoy my summer break for a while.

But, well, here I am at last. Getting this polished for you. I hope to be able to upload the next chapters fairly consistently.

The next chapter will feature more of the Sandaime and his response to all the inconsistencies in the boy's behavior. It'll also hopefully answer a lot of questions you have. Again, I only hope you'll enjoy it.

Thanks for reading.

Please, once again, review! Tell me what you think! I really appreciate any and all feedback.

Comments always welcome.

-- _liath_


	4. INTRO ARC 03: Perverted Sage, Phase 2

* * *

_  
Introduction Arc_  
**Part III: Operation "Find the Perverted Sage"  
Phase Two**

_by Taliath  
_

* * *

Day Two. Namikaze Naruto had woken up at the crack of dawn, and was now lightly stretching as the sun really began warming up the day.

He sighed at the warmth of the sunlight, briefly closing his eyes as he rested. Today was going to be a very strenuous day. He just knew, just had a gut feeling, that Phase Two was going to be slightly harder than he had first imagined.

There was a gentle breeze sweeping through the grass, chirping from birds just waking up, buzzing of insects.

It was very peaceful, Naruto noted. He hadn't realized how tense he had been until now. This Konoha just didn't have the same feeling of home.

"Boss, we're all done here."

"Oh, well. Better get to it," muttered Naruto as he slowly got up. "Thanks!" The clones disappeared with puffs of smoke.

He was currently deep, deep in the forest surrounding Konoha—where, he remembered, there were very few ninja patrols. In fact, if he remembered correctly, there was only one quick check once a week. It was just that secluded.

And it was just perfect for what he was about to do. No witnesses, far enough from Konoha to avoid patrols, in a region that was significantly lower than its surroundings, thus limiting sight from afar.

He remembered this area being his favorite spot for training top-secret techniques back in his home world—and now he would have to use it once more.

Phase One was dramatic, and he knew there would be consequences. It would definitely grab Jiraiya's attention, too. But there wasn't a guarantee that the perverted sage would come to Konoha, let alone that Naruto would be able to catch him in time.

Which was why Phase Two was necessary, since it was _sure_ to grab that Sannin's attention.

Besides, he needed to get in contact with his godfather fast. The Sandaime was already suspicious of his actions, and the robbery wouldn't help his mood at all—

But, he thought with a foxy grin, that was the point, too. He needed to show some of his skill for the plan to be plausible. His whole plan with the pervert depended on it.

"Well, let's get the show on the road." Naruto carefully made sure that everything was in its place. His clones had been working on it since daybreak, only now finishing all preparations.

There was large patch of earth devoid of grass where forty-eight separate seals converged in a large circular spiral. Beside the enormous seal were two large pyramids of the four thousand barrels of sake he had stolen the night before.

Yes, thought Naruto, it does look like everything's perfect.

During his travels with Jiraiya, back when he was but eight years old, he had learned the lore behind summoning. After all, someone had to have created the contracts in the first place. Years later, when he began to learn about seals from his father, he had furthered his knowledge by stumbling onto the original summoning arrays that were used by the ninjas of old.

Indeed, he had been there when his father had crafted slightly altered summoning arrays during that brief war with the hidden village of Cloud. When other ninjas poured chakra into the array, large battle toads had been summoned. Those summoning arrays were largely based on the original.

And now, Naruto was going use this knowledge to summon. Sure, he had signed the toad contract years ago in his own homeworld—but when he tried the traditional method an hour earlier, it hadn't worked. Thus the need for the original summoning array.

He needed to forge a new contract with the frogs. And he knew just how he would go about doing it.

"I hope this works," said Naruto, as his thoughts returned to the village.

No doubt there would be a full inquiry into the robbery. It was highly doubtful they'd ever connect the loss of sake to him, but he needed to be careful. Already the Sandaime had asked him questions regarding the Mizuki situation. Not that it would hurt his plans if the Sandaime was intelligent enough to connect the dots—after all, it only helped his plan with the pervert. But still, if he couldn't contact Jiraiya soon, Naruto might be in rather large trouble.

_No. I need to focus. I'll need to concentrate for this. _With a firm nod, the blond slowly charged up the chakra in his hands until it glowed brightly blue. He gritted his teeth, forcing ever more to gather until his hands began to burn.

Summoning Gamabunta was exhausting as it was, normally. He himself could only just summon the boss twice, and that was when he was completely rested up and fresh. Normally. But this was different. He needed to pump far, far more than was necessary in order to activate the array.

Which was why summoning arrays were outdated and never used in recent times—and when they _were_ used, it was by a team of jounin supplying the chakra.

_Just a little more. _Naruto winced as his hands began to shake in pain. _A bit more._

There!

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Gamabunta**!" roared Naruto as he slammed his hand down on the sealing array, unleashing all the chakra gathered in his hands—

The whole array lit up, each cluster of seals lighting up in ethereal blue. The array pulled more and more chakra from Naruto. The jounin gasped as more and more was taken from him. It was more than he had expected! Even with the large margin of error he had prepared for!

When the chakra in the vast sealing array had taken half again what was usually necessary for normally summoning the Toad Boss, the glow from the array disappeared—

There was an enormous cloud of smoke—

"**EH?**" rumbled a familiar yet still terrifyingly loud voice. "**Where am I? Who dares to summon me using a summoning array? Was it… JIRAIYA?!**"

Namikaze Naruto grinned weakly. The array had actually worked. Before him was Gamabunta, the boss of the toads.

* * *

The Sandaime sat alone in his office, a pile of paper sitting untouched beside him. Absentmindedly smoking his pipe, the old ninja considered the dilemma before him—his thoughts whirling at speeds unknown.

He was a true genius, declared Hokage of Konoha at the age of thirteen, living to a ripe old age, a fact which most ninja couldn't even dream of. In his prime, he had easily been the most powerful ninja in the shinobi world. He had lived through three separate Great Ninja Wars. But his strength was failing him, he knew, and he still had no heir.

But this old problem was not what was plaguing his weary mind at the moment.

He briefly glanced down at the reports before him, compiled by various ANBU captains and even an ANBU Commander. He had already memorized them, of course, but it still allowed him to refocus at the task on hand.

_Illusionary techniques concealing facilities not disturbed. No traps deactivated or released._

The intruder was very skilled—or knew an alarming amount of information about the precise location of the warehouses and its protections.

_No sign of forced entry, yet a vast amount of sake is missing._

The intruder had known a top-secret, elite-jounin level unlocking combination. This was strong evidence that this intruder was a Konoha-nin.

_Very minute traces of chakra, too minimal to obtain a match for known chakra composition._

The intruder was skilled, possibly an A-rank shinobi, and definitely a seal master. There was no other way that much sake could disappear with almost no trace of chakra.

_The A-Level Lightning Lock was reactivated before a chakra-enhanced physical attack triggered it._

The intruder had taken the time to make sure everyone in Konoha knew what had happened. Was it a taunt? A declaration that even their supposedly secure facilities weren't as safe as they had presumed? Perhaps blackmail of some sort?

_No evidence that explosive charge from seal was blocked in any manner. Evidence suggests that there was nothing impeding the explosive charge…._

The intruder had disappeared before the lightning charged from the seal. Thus, the intruder _must_ at least be an elite jounin in rank. There was no other way anyone could be fast enough to escape the explosive storm, especially after having physically punched the seal at close range.

_Lockdown of the facility was in full force. No ANBU member unaccounted for. No evidence of intruder escaping from facility. Search of the warehouses revealed no one in hiding._

The intruder had escaped, yet was undetected even when the facility had been locked down by ANBU shinobi. Either the intruder had been skilled enough to impersonate someone or had been skilled enough to evade the virtual army of ANBU completely. Both possibilities were disturbing.

_Preliminary tests show no sign of tampering with any other warehouse. More detailed analysis to follow. Will take approximately three months._

The Sandaime put down the reports once again with a weary sigh. The reports amounted to this: the intruder was highly efficient, impossibly skilled, perfectly capable, and terrifyingly well-informed. If he didn't know better, the Sandaime might have even suspected his old student, Orochimaru, to be behind this.

But, no, that last report discounted that idea. If Orochimaru had done something like this, the Sandaime was heartbreakingly sure the consequences would have been dire. If it really had been his former student, the situation would have included far more destruction and death all around.

_However_… Sarutobi narrowed his eyes as he watched his beloved village.

The list of accomplished ninjas capable of pulling this off was very short. Too short.

Jiraiya. Tsunade.

Suddenly, the image of a blond, hyperactive brat came into the old Hokage's mind. That boy, with his flair for dramatics and desire for attention, would have gladly, even enthusiastically, pulled off something like this—if he had the skill.

Who was he kidding? the Sandaime thought with a sigh. No, no. The child was hardly a ninja, barely a genin. There was no way Naruto could—

Yet another rather vivid image came into his mind—of another blond brat. Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, father of Uzumaki Naruto. The legendary Yellow Flash—

_Evidence suggests that there was nothing impeding the explosive charge…._

The Sandaime sat down abruptly as all strength suddenly left his body.

"I am getting too old for this," muttered the Sandaime as he tossed that revelation out the window. It was absolutely ridiculous to even suggest that an unskilled, untrained—

"_He was acting—strange, Hokage-sama. Not like himself at all. Maybe… maybe it was because he was still shocked by the revelation of the Kyuubi….?"_

Unwillingly, Iruka's voice stirred in the corner of his mind, and other thoughts coalesced together—the Yellow Flash, a byproduct of the legendary Hiraishin no Jutsu. It was plausible, it was very much possible that the intruder could have escaped through this method—thus escaping the lightning charge—undetected by all the ANBU—past all the security—

No! Absolutely not possible! The technique was dead! argued the Sandaime to himself most vehemently.

"_He's always been an impossible brat, but he's… like family, you know?" Iruka smiled sadly. "He's a good boy, really. He's just never been given a chance. But that'll change, Hokage-sama. After all, he makes the impossible possible."_

The impossible possible….

No. Uzumaki Naruto was not capable of infiltrating such a secure facility! Not even if by some impossible event he knew the Flying Thunder God technique—he would have still had to get passed the A-level locking seal and somehow made thousands of barrels of sake disappear into thin air—and the blond child didn't even drink sake—

Jiraiya. Lover of booze and women. Yes. Now that made sense. But why would the perverted Sannin, who hadn't stepped foot in the village for over twelve years now, come back just to cause this chaos?

Then again, it was precisely what the Toad Hermit might do, thought Sarutobi with a roll of his eyes.

He was weary. That could be the only explanation for why he had, even for the slightest of moments, suspected Uzumaki Naruto—

"_I thought I was going to die, but then Naruto caught the shuriken as if it was nothing. I-I… to be honest, I didn't think he could do something like that. Then he was fast enough to intercept Mizuki mid-charge, shut his opponent down like nothing I've ever seen. It was like… like Mizuki was nothing to him. Not even a threat. It was…"_

Impossible. Implausible. Utterly contradicting everything previously known about the boy.

"_Hey, grandpa! Who was that guy? He looks really strong! And he did that disappearing trick all jounins know!"_

Crack! The Sandaime looked down at the shattered cup in his hand blankly. Slowly he allowed the shards to clatter onto the table. How did Naruto know the jounin technique? It wasn't a skill listed in the Forbidden Scroll—

Could it really be? That Naruto, might not be Naruto? That the boy was—

Almost in a trance, the old Hokage turned to the crystal ball hidden in his backroom. He sat down carefully in front of the all-seeing eye of the artifact, focusing chakra into the ball. He directed it to Naruto's apartment, certain that the boy would be there—

"_Iruka spoke to me about several discrepancies that appeared in your behavior…. After all, defeating a chuunin on your own… just short of impossible."_

The Sandaime exhaled sharply. The crystal ball was blank, misty, unable to penetrate into the apartment. There were obviously seals preventing him from viewing the inside.

Seals. Security.

Uzumaki Naruto was nowhere else to be found in the village, the Sandaime confirmed. Either he was inside his home, or he was outside the village walls.

What does this mean? The Sandaime stood up slowly. What is going on here? Is Naruto's strangeness at all related to last night's incidence? Why are there seals on Naruto's apartment? Who placed them there?

How had Naruto learned the Shunshin? How had he been able to stop Mizuki, a chuunin, without a sweat? How was the boy able to learn and produce the Kage Bunshin in a single night?

And why, why was the old Hokage experiencing such an ominous feeling?

Was Jiraiya involved in any way? Was he the mastermind behind all this confusion? Could it be that Jiraiya had somehow established a rapport with Naruto?

It was possible. The man was the child's godfather. It was possible….

The Sandaime approached the large window in his office. He finally knew what to do.

All questions led directly to Naruto. There was only one possible course of action.

"Heiro, Kayumi." The Sandaime watched, detached emotionally, his face cold.

"Hokage-sama." Two ANBU shinobi blurred into view.

The Sandaime ruthlessly subdued the rush of emotions at the thought of hurting Naruto, and spoke with steel in his voice, his face impassive. "Find me Uzumaki Naruto. Bring him here—"

He was the Sandaime Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He was sworn to protect his home, at all costs—

"—by force, if necessary."

The ANBU disappeared; leaving behind an old, weary Hokage wondering if he was doing the right thing.

* * *

"**Hmm,**" considered the Toad Boss, expelling a puff of smoke from the end of his pipe. "**You expect me to believe this, runt?**"

Naruto just barely stopped himself from slapping his forehead in irritation. "Look, Gamabunta-sama. I'm telling the truth—how else would I know how to use the old summoning arrays? How else would I have the chakra to summon you?"

"**Hmm**," growled Gamabunta. "**So you're from another world, eh? The son of the other blond brat**."

"That's right," said Naruto slowly, rolling his eyes.

"**And you are here because the Kyuubi decided he didn't want to die**."

"Yep."

"**I battled that demon once, you know. It wasn't easy. He even gave me this scar**."

"I know."

"**Of course, I returned the favor by helping to seal him away permanently**."

"Right."

"**So. You want to forge another contract with me and the Toads**."

Naruto looked up hopefully. "You believe me, then?"

"**HAHAHA!**" The Toad Boss roared with laughter. "**Yeah right, runt! A likely story, but tell Jiraiya he needs to find a more believable idiot than you to tell it to me. I have no idea why that pervert wants another Toad Summoning Contract, and I don't care either. It's been a while since I've had some fresh air. Since it seems he doesn't need me, I'll be taking a walk**." The large toad began to move away.

Naruto sighed. He had hoped the Boss would listen and believe his story, but it seemed Gamabunta was just as stubbornly suspicious as in his own world.

_Well_, thought the boy,_ I'd hoped I wouldn't have to use this, but it seems I've no choice._

In a loud voice, Naruto shouted after the Toad Boss. "I formally challenge you in a battle to obtain a summoning contract with the Toads!"

Gamabunta froze.

With a grin, Naruto leaped up and landed neatly on the Boss's nose. "That's right. I've learned Toad lore. I formally challenge you to a drinking match, Gamabunta-sama!" The blond pointed to the two large pyramids, each pile having almost two thousand barrels of alcohol. "I've even prepared the sake."

"**Heh, heh, heh**," chuckled the Toad Boss in amusement. "**So it seems you know I can't refuse. But if you think a runt like you can out drink me, think again!**"

"I'll take my chances," said Naruto, a sly smirk on his face. "Shall we?"

"**I never refuse free sake, brat,**" said Gamabunta. "**But when you become unconscious, I won't bring you back to Konoha**."

"Don't," shouted the blond in response. "I'll beat you for sure!"

"**Whatever, kid. Get ready for the challenge**."

The jounin leaped off the Toad Boss and strolled over to the large pyramid. "According to the lore, the one who drinks the most, fastest is the winner, right? As long as I drink all of my pile before you do, I win this challenge, right?"

"**Correct. You've already divided the sake equally. Good. And because I'm feeling generous, I'll allow you to call the start of this challenge**."

"Thanks!" beamed Naruto. "All right then. Ready, set, GO!"

Gamabunta reached forward and gripped the barrel carefully with two fingers and popped off its lid, pouring the sake into his mouth. "**Ahh, very, very good! Come on, boy! Hurry up and start! You might finish one barrel by the time I'm finished with this whole pile!**"

"Oss!" said Naruto, and he formed a single hand seal, expelling nearly the rest of his chakra with his one technique. "**Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

"**EHHH?!**" rumbled the Toad Boss, momentarily stopping from drinking as he watched the forest around him fill with thousands of identical blond runts.

"This is how I'm going to win," declared the original Naruto loudly. "I, and my clones, am going to beat you!"

"Yeah!" shouted one clone.

"We'll definitely win!"

"This challenge will be a cinch!"

"You're going have to make us a contract now!"

"**HO?**" growled the Toad Boss. "**Do you really think you can beat me with several thousand identical runts? Hah! Think again!**"

"We'll see about that!" yelled Naruto. "All right, everyone! Drink up!"

Thousands of Naruto, grouping into teams of five each per barrel, began washing down the sake—

And the drinking contest was on.

Hours later, as the sun was just past its zenith, the contest was drawing to a close.

"Ughhh," groaned the real Naruto, as clones began disappearing one by one, having finished with their barrel. "I think I'm going to be sick."

He himself had not taken a single sip, but the combined memories of thousands and thousands of clones, and their muddled thoughts, nauseated the blond. "I don't think I'm going to do this ever again—"

The blond's stomach heaved and Naruto barely forced himself not to throw up. "Never again, never, never, _never_—"

But more and more memories piled on each other, as clones began dispersing by the dozens, and Naruto's eyes widened before he wretched up his breakfast, tears clinging to his eyes. He felt woozy, disoriented, and _sick_. His throat was parched and—

"**Unbelievable. You're already finished with the sake**." The Toad Boss was nearly finished as well, but it was clear who had won. "**Heh, amazing, runt. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see if myself. To think you still had the chakra to summon so many shadow clones. I'm impressed, brat.**"

"I, I told you," mumbled Naruto, his eyes closed and his hands rubbing his temples furiously. "I told you I'd win no matter what!"

"**So you did**," agreed Gamabunta, still sipping from the relatively tiny barrels, which looked rather easily like a shot cup, tiny things used by humans to drink sake. "**And I suppose I should live up to my side of the bargain. Very well, then.** **Kuyichose no Jutsu!**" The Boss Toad slammed one of his webbed hands onto the ground—without blood—and another large toad appeared.

The new toad, who Naruto recognized as the official Toad Contract keeper, wore a large bead necklace signifying her role. She looked around slowly, recognizing Gamabunta and bowed low.

"**Give him the scroll. We have a new summoner for the Toads**."

The female toad warbled, before released the large scroll she held in her mouth.

"**If you really have already signed this, then you should know what to do, eh runt?**"

Ignoring the insult and resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at the Toad Boss, the blond jounin carefully unrolled the scroll, bit his thumb, and signed it. Finally, he pressed all his five, blood-stained fingers onto the scroll.

It was done.

The female toad reached out with her tongue, gathering up the scroll, before disappearing in another poof of smoke.

"**You know, kid, I like you,**" rumbled the Toad Boss. "**And I accept you as my subordinate. Now, since I'm out of chakra, I'll be leaving. You can now summon any toad with my permission—just don't summon me for the trivial things, all right boy?**"

Naruto grinned weakly, still feeling the mess of memories from his drunken clones, and saluted. "Aye, boss! No problem. Thank you!"

Gamabunta took one last look around the world, breathing in deeply the fresh air.

Maybe, the toad considered, just maybe, the boy was speaking the truth after all—perhaps he really was from an alternate reality—

And if that were so, the Toad Boss was sorely disappointed that he would be unable to see the Sannin's face when the pervert found out.

Releasing his breath, Gamabunta allowed himself to escape back into his own realms with an enormous puff of smoke.

Phase Two was completed successfully.

* * *

**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**

_"Yo! The name's Gamakichi! Do you have any candy?"_

_"'KICHI! It's me Naruto! Hehehehe... Is it just me or are you thinner than the last time I saw you?" _Giggle.

_"Hey, are you drunk?"_

_"Must be because I haven't summoned you in a while. You've been starving for some tasty candy, haven't you?... Hehehe... Ugh. Headache. I've got a headache. I think I'm gonna throw up."_

_"Ahh! NOT AT ME! NOT ON ME!"_

_"Ugh... I feel better now. Thanks for helping me, 'Kichi!"_

_"YOU THREW UP ALL OVER ME, IDIOT!"_

_"STOP SHOUTING! MY HEAD HURTS, DUMB ASS!"_

_"I'M TELLING DAD YOU CALLED ME A DUMB ASS!"_

Puff.

_"OH YEAH? WELL GO RIGHT AHEAD!... Urgh... hey, where'd 'Kichi go?"_

**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!**

_"Oh, it's you. Are you gonna throw up all over me again?"_

Sheepish look. _"Sorry about that. Candy?"_

_"Fine. What do you want?"_

_"Could you deliver this to Jiraiya as soon as possible?"_

_"A letter? What's in it?"_

_"Something really really really really important!"_

_"Right..."_

_"THANKS 'KICHI! I'LL BE GOING NOW!" _Groan. _"I think I'm going to throw up again."_

_"Why is it always the weird ones? First that stupid pervert Jiraiya, then his apprentice with that obsession with the summoning world, and now..."_

* * *

Heiro and Kayumi sorely regretted the fact that they had been standing on duty when the Sandaime had called out for them.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it!" yelled a hyperactive blond. "Ow, ow, ow! My head hurts!"

Heiro's eyes twitched with extreme irritation and he snapped at the boy before he could stop himself: "Then stop bloody shouting!" His once pristine uniform was dirtied and singed. Part of his hair was painted bright orange—the other half was gone. He definitely felt he had a right to be fairly angry with the blond.

"What happened to your hair?" The boy began to giggle, swaying on his feet. His eyes were dilated, his cheeks bright red, and it was obvious that he was intoxicated. "That's so _cool_, ANBU-san! You've got real guts to go around like that!"

Heiro briefly considered using a kunai to show the brat just how much he appreciated his comments. After all, the Sandaime _had_ given them permission to use force, right?

"Uzumaki-san, Hokage-sama wishes to see you immediately. We assure you, you are in no trouble," lied Kayumi smoothly. Out of the two ANBU shinobi, the kunoichi felt she had gotten off much better after that disastrously failed attempt to enter Uzumaki's apartment. Sure, she had been subjected to a cloud of sleep-inducing vapor that would have rendered her helpless for hours, but she was an Aburame, and her bugs had easily taken care of it. And she felt the pink highlights in her hair were rather cute—though she would never admit it to anyone else.

"Lying is bad," scolded the blond boy with a pout. "You shouldn't lie, ANBU-chan." Kayumi blinked and Heiro opened his mouth—but the blond boy continued to speak. "Especially when it's obvious you're lying. Bad neechan."

Kayumi raised an eyebrow. "We are not lying, Uzumaki-san. You are not in trouble. And Hokage-sama _does_ wish to see you."

"There!" shouted the boy, his eyes wide and eager. "You use that voice whenever you're lying! Ha!"

Kayumi resisted the urge to frown. Her skills in deception were exceptional—all Aburame were extremely capable in this area of shinobi arts. How had the child known?

"Oh, dizzy," moaned Uzumaki, swaying quite ridiculously on his feet. "I think I better head home. Thanks for guarding my apartment for me! I appreciate it! See ya!" With unsteady steps, the blond boy attempted to walk past them into his apartment building, but Heiro moved to stop him.

"I don't think so, brat," he barked, standing rather dauntingly in the kid's way. "Didn't you hear me, Hokage-sama wants to see you now!"

Uzumaki peered up at him with large, watery blue eyes. "ANBU-san, can't you see I'm sick and tired here? W-would you really stop me from getting rest?"

Heiro's right hand twitched as he once again revisited the fantasy of using his kunai on the idiot in front of him.

"You do not wish to keep Hokage-sama waiting, do you?" asked Kayumi, carefully moving so that she stood between the two. For both of their sakes.

"But, you said I wasn't in trouble! You said so! That means I can see him tomorrow, right?"

"You claimed I was lying," Kayumi replied tonelessly.

Uzumaki winced. "Point. ANBU-chan, you're so smart!" The boy scratched the back of his head, grinning like a fool. "Say, do you think you could _ask_ him to see me tomorrow instead?"

"No."

"What if I promised? Like, pinky promised?"

"No."

The boy giggled nervously. "But what if I'm already asleep? I don't think I can wake up until tomorrow."

"No—what?" Kayumi experienced a _very bad feeling_.

"Well, you see—when I saw you two standing there in front of my apartment, I just knew you'd try to stop me from getting my well-deserved rest! And I was really, really, really, really, really, really—"

"Uzumaki," growled Heiro, true anger bubbling up in his voice. He actually had the kunai in his hand now.

"—really tired! So I thought: I'll leave a shadow clone to deal with them while I go to sleep. I'm sure it's nothing important. And even if it is, I can deal with it tomorrow! So I went to sleep, and here I am!"

Kayumi stared blankly at the supposed shadow clone before her.

"But," said the shadow clone, looking quite pitiful. "I feel just awful too, you know. I'm dizzy and I feel like I'm going to spew out my insides. So, do you think maybe we could do this later? Like really late tomorrow? Preferably with the real me?" Actual tears began leaking out from the corner of the clones eyes. "You know, people think we clones don't have any feelings. But we do! So, ANBU-chan, can you let me go to sleep now? Please? Pretty please? With a cherry on top?"

The two ANBU were dumbstruck. The two shinobi glanced at each other, affirming that each had seen the absolutely ridiculous sight before them. The two then returned their gaze to the source of their bewilderment.

The nearly-crying boy pouted at them suddenly with impossibly large and round blue eyes.

Heiro couldn't believe it. So had the rumors been true after all? This idiot had really mastered a jounin-ranked technique?

"Very well. We will inform Hokage-sama," Kayumi said neutrally.

"Aww, really, ANBU-chan? You're the best!"

Kayumi froze as the blond boy leaped up to give her a hug, at a loss of what to do.

"Nighty-night, ANBU-chan," sang Uzumaki, still hugging Kayumi. He turned to Heiro and added not so enthusiastically: "ANBU-san, you're mean. I don't like you."

There was a puff of smoke and the shadow clone dispersed. Inside the apartment building, the real Naruto rolled over in his sleep, mumbling incoherently.

Back outside, Heiro spun around to face his partner in surprise. "What're you doing? Hokage-sama said we needed to bring the boy to him—by force if we needed to!"

Kayumi answered impassively. "And how do you plan to do that? A shadow clone would have been worthless. Are you willing to attempt to raid the apartment again?"

Her partner gave her a dirty glare, very self-conscious of his rumpled appearance. He could still vividly remember the traps that caused his current state. With a shudder at the thought of meeting anyone he knew, Heiro snapped right back. "Still, we'll be failing our mission then! Hokage-sama will be displeased!"

"Yes." Kayumi turned to head back to the Hokage Tower. "Yes. He will be. But it is out of our hands now."

Heiro followed reluctantly as they both began leaping atop the buildings. He sighed loudly. "What does the Sandaime want with that demon brat anyway?"

"It is pointless to ponder."

Heiro rolled his eyes. At least, he thought to himself, the brat was going to get his comeuppance soon. Snubbing a request (read: demand) to meet with the Hokage was something a person just _did not do_. Even the Fire Daimyo would come running at the Sandaime's call—perhaps whining and complaining the whole journey—but he would still come as soon as possible.

The ANBU grinned behind his mask. _Uzumaki Naruto, you'll be wishing you'd stayed awake before long._

* * *

Sarutobi allowed the crystal ball to deactivate.

Naruto certainly seemed to have the same hyperactive, enthusiastic personality. He exuded the same temperament as before.

And yet…. The list of subtle differences was piling up.

Abilities—the boy had successfully evaded the ANBU sent to capture him. Defeated a chuunin easily. Supposedly learned the shadow clone technique, a jounin-ranked ninjutsu, within a single night. Could Shunshin with the ease of an experienced shinobi.

Seals—the boy's apartment was very secure. So secure, in fact, that two elite ANBU couldn't penetrate it.

The Sandaime's eyes narrowed.

There was one other thing to add onto the list. The boy was clearly intoxicated. Was it coincidence, then, that just the evening before, a vast amount of alcohol had disappeared?

"Hokage-sama," said Kayumi as she blurred into view; beside her was her partner. "We—"

"I know," said the Sandaime gently. "Do not worry. I'll deal with this situation. Rest now—Heiro, be sure to see a medic about those burns."

The two ANBU bowed before disappearing, leaving the old Hokage to return to his thoughts.

_What to do…_ he wondered. What was the right course of action, now? There was just too much suspicion to leave Naruto alone. Though his gut feeling told him that the Naruto sleeping in his apartment was the real Naruto, the discrepancies in the boy's abilities were just too much to ignore.

Could it be that he was just overreacting? thought the Sandaime. Was there a simple explanation for all this?

"But to determine that, I must still question him," mumbled Sarutobi to himself. He sank into his chair, allowing his old bones to rest, and sighed. Briefly his mind wandered to a small orange book hidden beneath folders in his second drawer—

No. He had to focus.

What was he going to do about Naruto? The child obviously needed his rest from whatever he was doing all day. And it wouldn't do for the Hokage himself to personally punch through the security seals surrounding the apartment—and he didn't want to send a whole ANBU squad just to question the boy. There was no need to traumatize the child.

Yes. From his observations, he was entirely sure it wasn't someone impersonating the child. If nothing else, the ridiculous chakra capacity of the boy proved this—a chakra source perhaps as large as his own!

"Tomorrow, then," decided the old Hokage, vocalizing his thoughts. "After the team assignments, I will have to have a long discussion with Naruto to straighten all this out." And he also had to deal with a disgruntled village council.

Resisting the urge to yawn, as it was rather unbecoming of a Kage, the Hokage automatically reached into his drawer. It was time to relax, now.

A minute later, muffled perverted giggles could be heard in the Hokage Office.

* * *

_**To be continued...**_

_INTRO ARC Part Four: __Operation "Go With the Flow"__ will be updated very soon_, _but reviews really help encourage me to write! So take the hint, spend a minute, and _review! _As I've said before, I honestly appreciate each and every review you make, even the one-worded ones. Reviews really show me that you've taken precious time out of your schedule to comment on my fic--and there's nothing more an author can ask._

* * *

**Technique Translations:**

1. Kuchiyose no Jutsu -- Summoning Technique -- _summons an animal_

* * *

**End Notes:**

As promised, this next portion was uploaded within forty-eight hours. Cheers!

The next chapter will bring this whole Operation to a close, and we'll begin a new adventure. I think you'll enjoy what I have planned. Also, I hope you all enjoy my depiction of the Sandaime. He'll play a central role in this fic and I truly hope to do him justice. He's one character that I feel is often too flat in most fics. I hope to give him a more three-dimensional feel. After all, he played quite the role in bringing all these canon events together. This fic will explore the Sandaime quite a bit.

So. One last chapter for the INTRO ARC before we move onto the next arc that really gets the story moving along.

Thanks for reading.

Please, once again, review! Tell me what you think! I really appreciate any and all feedback.

Comments always welcome.

-- _liath_


	5. INTRO ARC 04: Operation Flow

* * *

_Introduction Arc_  
**Part IV: Operation "Go With the Flow"**

_by Taliath_

* * *

When Naruto woke up, he felt the oddest sensation. It was like he had forgotten something really important and now it was kicking like mad to be remembered once again. Then again, that kicking feeling could also be the result of the worst migraine of his life, which was pounding out any and all coherent thought.

With a groan, the blond jounin crawled over to his pack and desperately searched for his herbs. Specially made for exactly this reason—though normally it was him _providing_ the hangover relief to others—Naruto chewed and swallowed the bitter, rotten-tasting yet highly efficient herbal root. He felt the relief almost immediately as the pounding in his head slowly disappeared. It was still there, certainly, but now he could actually hear himself think.

The odd sensation returned again, and Naruto was about to focus on this—before his stomach announced its hunger in a loud audible rumble—and the sensation disappeared as the blond began to eagerly prepare for his breakfast.

"Urgh," groaned Naruto as he settled in front of his breakfast. To be honest, he really wasn't feeling up to eating it just yet—no matter what his stomach thought. "I'm never going to drink that much alcohol ever again."

His thoughts returned to the previous day, where after the Toad Boss had disappeared, Naruto had replenished enough of his chakra to summon Gamakichi and ask him to deliver a message to the Toad Sage. At least, he was fairly certain he had done so. His memories concerning the events passed the drinking contest were foggy at best, and downright confusing at worst.

His stomach groaned again and with a sigh, Naruto forced himself to eat.

Returning to his thoughts, the blond remembered writing out a series of numbered codes on a scroll for the message—which only a seal master would be able to decipher. The codes referred to the key to the spiral seal on his stomach. That was sure to catch the pervert's attention and in all likelihood, have the Sannin rushing to return home.

"Ahh!" yawned Naruto, stretching. Now, what did he have to do today?

The itching feeling came back. That's right. There was something very, very important he was supposed to do today—what was it?

Absentmindedly, Naruto began pulling on clothing that his clones had purchased two days before, strapping on his pack and all his hidden weapons.

It was really important, he remembered that. Something a chuunin said—Iruka, yeah—for him not to forget. Naruto wrapped his forehead protector around his neck—

—and as though a bolt of lightning struck him, he remembered: Genin Team Assignments!

A quick glance at the time told him all he needed to know.

He was late.

Ridiculously late.

As in, over three hours late.

_Way to go_, thought Naruto crossly as he rushed to the Academy. _I've just failed Operation "Go With the Flow"!_

There wasn't even a blur as the jounin made liberal use of the Shunshin—it was sure useful having such a large, fast-replenishing chakra capacity—and arrived to see—

No one.

Well, except for two kids his own age—one of whom he recognized as Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. What the hell? Why was that arrogant bastard here? Was he really just graduating the Academy too?

_What in Kami's name is up with this world?_ thought the blond jounin crossly. He himself was supposedly a failure—and so, apparently, was Uchiha Sasuke.

This annoying bastard had just become a chuunin last time Naruto had seen him. Sasuke had graduated early at the age of ten—though two years after the blond jounin. It was during the Uchiha's brief stint under Kakashi's command when Naruto had met Sasuke, before Itachi had killed him nearly a month ago. To be honest, Naruto didn't know the whole story, and he didn't care either, but apparently the older Uchiha had decided the fully developed Sharingan eyes of his younger brother's were cooler than his own.

Absolutely mental. All the Uchiha's were, to be honest.

Well, the Yondaime had made rather short work of Itachi. In fact, if Naruto remembered correctly, the Uchiha elders had moved to strike Itachi from all records in the aftermath. Why they would want that when _everyone_ already knew, the boy didn't know.

"Sasuke-kun!" whined a pink-haired girl, staring at Sasuke in an obsessed manner. "Where do you think our sensei is?"

"Hn," grunted Sasuke without even looking at the girl.

Were they supposed to be his teammates, then? Naruto considered. In his own world, he had never had teammates. Jiraiya had taken him away right after the Genin Exams—after that disastrous night with Iwa-nin—and the blond jounin had never really been able to experience the strong bonds of friendships formed during genin team missions.

"And where's the idiot?" grumbled the girl. "I bet he's outside pulling pranks again."

_I suppose that's my cue_, thought Naruto, as he finally entered the classroom. He grinned widely at his new teammates. "Hey guys!"

"Naruto! What've you been doing, you idiot?! You missed team assignments!" shouted the girl.

With a sheepish laugh, Naruto scratched the back of his head. "On my way here, I saw this old lady trip and fall, and decided to be nice and carry her all the way home, but then her house caught on fire all of a sudden!"

The girl looked at him blankly. Sasuke looked at him with pure disbelief.

Encouraged, Naruto continued enthusiastically, copying his ero-niisan's famous excuses. "So I ran all the way to the well, getting some water to put out the fire, and then this huge water-creature jumped out of the well! It was like, crazy! It started attacking everyone and we had this long battle—"

"LIAR!" shouted the girl, shaking her fist at him. "Stop lying, you baka! You probably just slept in!"

Sasuke didn't even deign to answer, turning away to brood.

Naruto pouted. "You guys are no fun!" He glanced around the empty room. "So, you guys are in my team, huh?"

Finally, Sasuke spoke. "Hn, don't fool yourself, dobe. You are in _my_ team."

"That's right!" shouted the girl. "Sasuke's our team leader! Right, Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke glared at her in a most irritated manner.

The blond jounin raised an eyebrow. _This Sasuke's even worse than the one in my world_, he concluded with distaste. Naruto turned back to the girl, giving her a puzzled look.

"What, Naruto?" she snapped in irritation. "Stop staring at me! I'm not going on a date—"

"Who are you, again?" asked Naruto. He didn't remember this girl from his own world. Which made sense, really, he never had much contact with Academy students.

The girl actually looked hurt, opening her mouth to answer—when the door slid open behind them.

"Team Seven, I presume," muttered a familiar, lazy voice. "Hmm, well, my impression of all of you is… How should I say this… you're all idiots."

With pure disbelief, Naruto turned to face his ero-niisan. Hatake Kakashi. Apparently now his team leader.

This world is seriously fucked up, thought the blond boy.

"Meet me on the roof." Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Blue eyes narrowed as Naruto analyzed just what he had seen. There were subtle differences between his Kakashi and this world's Kakashi. This one's clothes were rumpled and worn out—as opposed to the Kakashi of his own world. After all, Rin would never allow her husband to go around with clothes like that!

There was, also, a lack of energy, of enthusiasm. Sure, the Kakashi he knew had been lazy to boot, but still enjoyed the greater aspects of life. This one just seemed… lifeless. Tired. Weary.

Sad.

"Let's go, Sasuke-kun!" The girl, whose name Naruto still didn't know, left the classroom with the Uchiha, not even giving the blond boy a glance.

Rolling his eyes, Naruto took one last look around the classroom. _How odd_, he thought, _it hasn't changed at all._ The former jounin formed a single hand seal and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"So, you _do_ know the Shunshin," commented an unimpressed Kakashi. The silver-haired jounin was leaning back against the railing on the school's rooftop, his arms crossed. He looked relaxed.

"Yeah, I do," said Naruto calmly. "And you're the jounin-sensei of Team Seven, huh. Hatake Kakashi, the Copy-Cat Ninja, the shinobi of over one thousand stolen techniques."

Kakashi, as experienced as he was, couldn't help but narrow his eyes. "And you, Uzumaki Naruto, are just full of surprises, aren't you?"

"I think you'll find that I am the number one most surprising and unpredictable ninja you'll ever meet," said Naruto, as he leaned forward onto the railing, staring off into the distance.

"Is that so?" asked Kakashi flatly.

Before the blond could response, however, another voice shrieked in surprise. "Naruto! How'd you get up here before us?!"

"Maa, so loud," muttered Naruto, not even turning around. "How'd she become a genin, anyway?"

"NARUTO!" The girl was obviously about to erupt in a female bout of hissy fit.

"Settle down, settle down," interrupted Kakashi, sounding rather bored. "Sit on the floor and let's get ourselves introduced."

Naruto remained standing, however, and cocked his head at Kakashi. Now that he could properly study the man, he found there really were more differences to be noted. The man didn't look very healthy, his face paler and his eyes drooped with weariness. His clothes were frayed in some areas.

Naruto couldn't help but feel concerned. What the hell had happened in this world to make Kakashi like this?

"Erm, sensei?" asked the girl. "How should we introduce ourselves? What do we say?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Names. What you like, hate, your dreams, and hobbies. Something like that."

Naruto sighed. This was going to be a long day. He just knew it.

And how right he was. When the meeting finally ended at last, and everyone in the apparent Team 7 dispersed off into different directions, the blond boy was the only person still pensively staring off into the distance.

"Survival training," mused Naruto as he walked away from that first team meeting. "What a joke." He had never had to go through something like that in his home world—but he had heard about it from his ero-niisan. _I wonder if he's going to use that same old bell test?_

Well, at least he had learned the name of his female teammate. Haruno Sakura. Loud, obnoxious, obsessed with the Uchiha, and at this point, he concluded, useless as a kunoichi.

Before Kakashi had left minutes ago, the jounin-sensei had muttered, "Naruto, don't forget Hokage-sama wants to see you now."

—Which reminded the blond boy to think about the evening before with a sigh. The Sandaime. Naruto supposed the gig was up, now. In fact, the blond was surprised that the old Hokage hadn't pressed the issue of his differences earlier.

"Looks like I'm going to have to fess up to everything," said Naruto to himself. It was time to put the biggest and most important aspect of his grand plan forward.

Suddenly a grin split his face. If all went well, he might not even have to do D-rank missions! With that happy thought, the blond jounin disappeared from the rooftop in a burst of speed.

It was finally time to confront the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha.

* * *

"Ahh, Naruto. Come in. Have a seat," welcomed the aged Sandaime. The old Hokage was smoking his pipe, in the midst of signing papers, when Naruto stepped through the doorway. He was now smiling gently, a calming aura exuding from his presence.

With an internal grin, Naruto began his drama with an indignant shout. "I wanted to tell you, but ero-sennin said I couldn't!"

Phase Two of Operation "Go with the Flow": Blame the Pervert.

The Sandaime blinked.

Naruto pouted. "He won't even really tell me why! He just goes on and on about ninja's needing a hidden ace—but then laughs when I ask him what the hell cards have to do with it!"

The old Hokage just managed to catch his pipe as it fell.

"He didn't even really train me! He was always trying to sneak a peek at the hot water springs—but then if I bothered him enough he would maybe give me a scroll, which was pretty cool! But then whenever he left he always put a stupid seal on me, messing up my chakra control—he said it would help so that I wouldn't accidentally mess up and show off my skills to everyone. He wouldn't even let me beat up that bastard Sasuke once!" Naruto's face scrunched up as though that was the greatest injustice of it all.

"I see," muttered the Sandaime, when he finally managed to find his voice. He opened his mouth to ask another question—but Naruto wasn't finished.

"Ero-sennin made me do the stupidest things sometimes—but the pranks he had me pull were really fun! I never knew that pranks could be training too before!" Naruto beamed, before the smile slowly disappeared. "He wouldn't let me tell you, though. H-he said he wasn't really allowed to train someone who hadn't received a ninja headband yet. He said that you'd stop him from training me if you found out."

The old Hokage felt a mixture of emotions as his mind finally caught up to the boy's words—facts aligning and snapping into place—anger, concern, irritation, suspicion, but above all, confusion. He had to be sure. The Sandaime narrowed his eyes as he stared hard at the blond child before him. "Uzumaki Naruto, this 'ero-sennin' wouldn't happen to be Jiraiya of the Legendary Three, the Toad Hermit and master sealer of Konoha?"

Naruto stared in disbelief. "Are you serious? He's really called all that? I thought he was just making it all up!"

"And you didn't think to tell me that a stranger walked up to you, offering to train you? Did you not think for a second that he might be a spy from another village?" The Sandaime's voice hardened. "Naruto, what were you _thinking_?"

The blond boy opened his mouth—

But another bemused voice answered in his stead: "Don't be too hard on him, sensei. After all, he was just a child then, starved for attention."

A brilliant grin threatened to slip out of Naruto's otherwise blank face, but his lips twitched. _He's here. Ero-sennin's arrived to back me up!_

"Jiraiya," snapped the Third, his voice cold. His eyes shifted from the blond child to the large, white-haired man who had appeared in his office.

A small, highly amused smile played on the Toad Sage's face. "Sensei," he greeted in return. "It's certainly been a long time."

"Is what Naruto's saying true? That you trained him without my authorization for years now?" The Sandaime glared fiercely at his former student.

Most shinobi would have felt extreme dread, wilting away—but Jiraiya, as it appeared, was unaffected. "Heh, the brat was supposed to wait until I arrived to tell you, but then he's always been an impatient little runt, eh?" The pervert tried to ruffle Naruto's hair, but stopped at the indignant look on the blond boy's face.

"Ero-baka," said Naruto. "You just wait. I'll end up being taller than you, for sure!"

Jiraiya sighed. "Rude, too. Why did I ever decide to train you?"

"Because you saw that I was so totally awesome and cool?" shot back Naruto. He grinned slyly. "And also because you lost that bet you made with me."

"I thought we decided never to mention that little tidbit ever again," said Jiraiya exasperatedly.

Naruto looked back smugly. "As if, ero-sennin. Dream on."

The Sandaime cleared his throat loudly. He still looked a touch angry. "How long has this been going on, exactly?"

"Eh," Jiraiya shrugged. "Must've been, what, three?—four?—years ago. Can't remember. It's been a while, though."

"Four." Naruto supplied an answer, rolling his eyes. "You gave me that stupid scroll on the birds and the bees for my eighth birthday, remember?"

"Ah, right," said Jiraiya with a proud look. "I couldn't let little Naru-chan go without knowing the significance of being invited to the hot springs by those men, now could I? And his first completely successful Henge no Jutsu, too!"

_Why the hell did he come up with such a stupid story?_ Naruto gritted his teeth. "I thought we decided never to mention _that_ ever again. And you know I hate that nickname!" Jiraiya let out a chuckle.

The Sandaime stared at the two in complete disbelief. "You've been training him for that long—without anyone noticing?"

Jiraiya's chest puffed out in pride. "I am the man who has no enemies in the North, South, East, and West—not even in the Heavens! I am one of the Sannin—white-haired toad tamer—even a child would stare in awe… the Great—!"

"—Perverted Idiot!" shouted Naruto, blocking his ears in absolute horror. "I told you not to do that ever again, ero-baka!" Even the Sandaime looked slightly disturbed, and Jiraiya's head drooped. "Anyway, one of the first things he taught me was how to avoid ANBU shinobi. It was really easy, actually! Kinda like playing a prank all the time—y'know, hiding's one thing I'm good at!"

The Sandaime felt a headache. He decided he wouldn't handle this absurdity any longer than necessary. He forced himself to ask, "And did you two have anything to do with the break-in two nights ago?"

Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Training?" He tried to look innocent.

The Sandaime's eyes narrowed. He, apparently, wasn't fooled.

"A final test!" said Jiraiya, lying smoothly. "Devised to make him utilize all the skills he's learned from me up to this point—call it a graduation examination of my own choosing." The Toad Hermit laughed heartily. "And he passed with flying colors, eh sensei? Fooled the whole village!"

The Sandaime resisted the urge to rub his temples. He was calm, collected, serene—dammit! His reckless former student had put nearly the whole shinobi population into a state of panic, forced vast resources to be put into investigating the incident, and now had the gall to laugh over it. "I'm almost afraid to ask—what happened to the sake?"

"Why, given as a tribute to Gamabunta when the runt summoned him, of course!" exclaimed Jiraiya.

Shocked, the old Hokage raised an eyebrow at the blond eye, appraising him in a new light. "Naruto has signed the Toad contract?"

"Yup!" beamed the blond boy. "Summoned the Toad Boss all on my own!"

"And you didn't need to use—"

"Nope, sensei. I was watching carefully." Jiraiya sounded confident in his answer.

The old Hokage shook his head slowly, all previous anger at the two disappearing in his shock. "Incredible."

"It wasn't that hard, either!" bragged Naruto. "Ero-sennin didn't even help me at all when I raided the storage facilities! I had to learn the unsealing combination by following a jounin around for days! And then, the pervert wouldn't even tell me how to draw the stupid storage seals."

Sarutobi exhaled sharply. "Are you meaning to tell me that you, Naruto, did the break-in all by yourself?"

"I told you! I'm the best! The strongest! I'll be Hokage in no time!" The boy was almost bouncing all over the walls in his excitement.

"He did, sensei," added Jiraiya, suddenly very serious. "He's very talented. Has enormous potential. He might even become stronger than my old apprentice."

_Unbelievable_, the Sandaime wanted to say. This whole situation was ridiculous. Naruto, the prankster of Konoha, a trained shinobi under the Toad Sannin? Naruto, who was at the bottom of his class, able to actually successfully raid the storage facilities by himself? Naruto, a twelve year old, able to summon the great Gamabunta of the Toads?

And yet, here was his former student, giving credence to the blond boy's boasts.

Could it be possible? Certainly Jiraiya was skilled enough to keep something like this from the old Hokage. There was no lie in their words, no contradictions, nothing to say this was all falsely conceived. And yet—

It was just too unbelievable. He couldn't, just couldn't, swallow it.

"This doesn't excuse the fact that you two have brought great unrest to the village these past several days—"

"Oh, those old farts on the council could use some excitement in their lives, sensei," retorted Jiraiya, waving away the Sandaime's words. "Besides, doesn't this just go to show how lazy and complacent the village has gotten?"

There was nothing to say to argue with that. "Speaking of the council," said the Sandaime, a frown on his face. "They will not be happy to hear you've been training Naruto."

"Well, they can go to hell for all I care." Jiraiya didn't seem concerned. "Look, sensei, I've got some things I need to discuss with Naruto—and I'm sure you'd appreciate some time to think about this. Can we continue this discussion later tonight?"

The Sandaime opened his mouth to reply, but Jiraiya had already scooped up the still hyperactive blond boy and disappeared instantly in a puff of smoke.

_I'm missing something here_, realized the old Hokage as he stared at where the two had been just moments before. _Something they're both not telling me._

Sarutobi sat silently for several long moments. His thoughts whirled through his mind. His face expressionless. He analyzed every moment of that brief encounter, every action, every word.

Yes, he decided after long consideration. He was certain. There was something, something subtle, something they didn't want him to know.

The Sandaime puffed lightly on his newly lighted pipe.

As it was obvious they were unwilling to reveal that something to him—

His eyes hardened with determination.

—well, he would just have to find out what it was.

* * *

Naruto allowed Jiraiya to carry them out and away from the Hokage Office—but the moment they were free from the Tower, he twisted and pulled himself away. With a meaningful glance at the Toad Hermit beside him, the blond led the pervert to his apartment where they could discuss things relatively securely.

Wordlessly the large shinobi followed until several minutes later when they were finally within the safety of the security seals.

As Naruto shifted to the kitchen, intent on making some tea for them both, he noted that Jiraiya no longer looked at all amused. His eyes were narrowed, his posture serious, and the boy knew that the man wanted answers.

"Sit. It'd be better when we talk." Naruto felt the man's gaze on his back as he quickly heated the water. "You probably want answers. I'll give you some in a moment." He crushed some leaves. "Oh, and thanks for sticking to my story with the Sandaime. I know the message I sent you was very short and didn't include any details. I'm surprised, though, that you were able to come so quickly."

"I was in the area when I got the message," replied Jiraiya, as he took a seat at the table. He watched as the boy poured tea into small cups. "But I still traveled all night to get here. After all, the message you sent me held only a single sentence: _Namikaze Naruto, son of the Yondaime, requests the aid of his godfather, Jiraiya_. Surrounding it, a coded sequence referring to something which only I could ever know. Delivered via a toad insistent that there was a new Toad summoner. You certainly knew exactly how to catch my attention."

Naruto passed the man a cup, before taking a seat of his own in front of the man. Their eyes met, both serious. The time for jokes was over. It was time for some answers.

With a sigh, the blond boy leaned back into his chair, considering the man before him. He noted very little in terms of differences between his own Jiraiya and this one. His every action, his expression, his presence—all of it was completely the same. He could tell that Jiraiya was, even now, ready for action in a split moment. He could tell that the pervert was confused, highly curious, and yet at the same time wary.

Two years, Naruto had traveled with the Toad Sannin, ever since the Stone Village had sent four assassins to kill him just after his eighth birthday. His father had decided that it was no longer safe for Naruto to remain in such a visible location and the two had left Konoha to see the world—training, exploring new places, meeting new people. Even Tsunade. The journey had been cut short, however, when escalating tension between Cloud and Leaf eventually snapped.

War. Such a terrible thing. He had been almost ten years old at the time.

Promoted to chuunin immediately without having to pass examinations, Naruto had been placed in a force formed up of genin and chuunin with two jounin leaders. Shortly thereafter, however, the jounins had been killed in a massive invasion from Cloud. The blond boy had immediately taken charge. For three whole months, lost in enemy territory, the blond chuunin had safely protected his squad before finally navigating free. Four of his shinobi had died the one timme he'd been unable to avoid the enemy, but the rest of the three chuunin and ten genin had made it safely back.

Naruto had been praised a hero, promptly promoted to jounin, and sent back out to the frontlines—though this time, he was in command from the start. Five ANBU teams had been placed under him, and together they had formed a spear that was responsible for shattering the enemy frontlines. He had been eleven at the time.

Two months after his birthday, the war finally came to an end. His father, the Yondaime, had led a direct attack against the Hidden Village of Cloud, killing the Raikage. It had also been the third time Naruto had ever had to resort to using the Kyuubi chakra. The Cloud's demon-container had unleashed her inner demon—and only through the use of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's power had Naruto just barely been able to defeat, and ultimately kill, the kunoichi. It had been a difficult—

"So," prompted Jiraiya.

Naruto looked up startled, unaware just how lost he had been in his memories, and realized that the room had been silent for some time now.

Jiraiya crossed his arms, and continued: "You promised answers, boy."

"I did," agreed Naruto, blinking away his thoughts. "I'm glad you believed the message I sent you and came to help me out. I appreciate it."

Betraying no outward expression, Jiraiya spoke calmly. "And just how could I ignore it?" The white-haired Sannin gave him a look. "The whole point was to make me come running, after all, eh?"

"Yeah," acknowledged the blond boy. He took a deep breath, formulating his next words, and began. "And as for how I knew—well, my message says it all, really."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed.

The corners of Naruto's mouth twitched upwards in a smug smile.

"After all, I _am_ Namikaze Naruto," said the blond jounin, leaning forward. "Not _Uzumaki_ Naruto."

Jiraiya didn't react in any obvious ways, pensively staring at the blond before him.

Naruto continued after a moment. "I'm not the Naruto everyone here thinks I am. That Naruto is most likely in the Death God's stomach. I am Namikaze Naruto, from another world, one that is significantly different from this one. The most obvious difference I've found is that: in this world, my father the Yondaime Hokage was the one who summoned the Death God and sealed the Kyuubi away."

Jiraiya's eyes widened at the implication.

"Yeah. It didn't happen that way in my world." Naruto leaned back again, his thoughts remembering back to when he had first heard the story of the sealing. It was in the aftermath of the assassination attempt, when he had first summoned the demon chakra to defend himself. "It was the Third who had sacrificed his life, who summoned the Death God, thus sealing away the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox into me."

"Minato…" muttered Jiraiya, a far-away look in his eyes.

"He's alive in my world. A strong, caring Hokage. The best father a kid could have. A genuine protector of Konoha."

The Toad Sage's eyes focused. "And do you have any proof of this?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Look, kid, I know you _are_ the real Naruto—your enormous chakra capacity says it all. I know you are highly trained, able to convince Gamabunta to let you sign the summoning contract, and I know you _genuinely_ believe you're from another world. But, are you sure it's not the Kyuubi messing with your mind? Are you absolutely certain your memories haven't been tampered with?"

The blond boy cocked his head at the Sannin, carefully considering what the man had to say, before a slow grin split his face. "Three. I can prove myself to you in three ways."

"Oh? Let's have at it, then."

Naruto stood up and carefully moved back so that he could have more room. He held up his palm. "**Rasengan**." Concentrated chakra spun, forming a blue spiraling sphere.

Jiraiya exhaled sharply. "That's—"

"**Oodama Rasengan**." Another blue sphere formed in Naruto's other hand, and he carefully merged the two, creating an enormous orb of deadly chakra.

Jiraiya's eyes were wide opened in shock.

"You might want to step back a little, ero-sennin." Naruto took a deep breath, before attempting another step. "**Fuuton: Rasengan.**"

Jiraiya pushed away from the table and took several steps back as harsh winds blew around the apartment.

Slowly, the blond jounin slowed down the spinning until the spiraling storm in his hands eased away. "Any higher level variations would tear this apartment apart," called Naruto loudly. Indeed, the **Rasenshuriken** would have literally destroyed the interior of his home. "That's my first proof. After all, if in this world my father died over twelve years ago, no one but you and his students would know this technique."

Jiraiya had a look of confusion on his face. A mix of surprise, elation, shock—and sadness?—flashed through his facial expressions.

Naruto reached up to his neck and carefully pulled off his crystal amulet necklace—given to Tsunade by the First Hokage, and later passed down to him—his only real protection against the Demon Fox in his belly—and held it out to the white-haired Toad Hermit. "I think you'll recognize this. My second proof: the crystal amulet of the Shodai Hokage. Tsunade-obaachan gave it to me when I was nine to subdue the destructive nature of the demon chakra."

The Toad Sannin reached out and took the crystal from him, gazing down at the artifact with wonder. Blue chakra lit his finger tips as he carefully activated the crystal—and felt its familiar resonation. "This really _is _the Shodai Hokage's necklace."

"It is. I'm pretty sure obaa-chan has one just like it in this world—identical in every way."

Jiraiya handed back the crystal. "So, you have the rasengan mastered—even added chakra elements, which Minato hadn't managed to do before his death in this world. You have Tsunade's necklace. What's your third proof?"

Naruto grinned, his eyes darting to the floor where a hidden seal was located just behind the large man. Perfect. He quickly formed four hand seals—

—the Toad Sannin's eyes widened as he recognized the combination, gasping out, "Impossible—!"

—and the blond boy calmly muttered, "**Hiraishin no Jutsu!**"

There was a flash of yellow.

Jiraiya's eyes widened in shock. His body froze. His thoughts jammed to a stop. His mouth dropped open.

Cold metal touched his bare neck as Naruto held a kunai to his throat. "My father's ultimate technique. My third and final proof. Are you convinced yet, ero-sennin?"

* * *

The sun was setting once again over Konoha.

The two shinobi inside an apartment in the shadier area of town, however, didn't notice. Nearly two hours had passed by since Naruto and Jiraiya had isolated themselves in that location—and it seemed only now that both had run out of things to say.

Each had given detailed histories of their own worlds. Each had revealed surprising facts to one another. Naruto had been stunned to learn of the fate of the Uchiha clan. Jiraiya had been stunned to learn that there had been a war between Cloud and Leaf over the Hyuuga incident.

Slowly, Naruto was winding down his tale of how he had come to be sent into this world. "—and that's how I ended up here and this world's me is… well, not here."

Jiraiya's eyes had narrowed at the start of his tale, and now they glinted with insight. "A meeting between the Kazekage and Orochimaru?"

"Yeah. Father received information that the two were planning an alliance to destroy Konoha." Naruto cocked his head. "Why?"

Jiraiya rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I've got nothing concrete, but I did hear rumors that the Kazekage disappeared from the Sand Village almost four days ago and hasn't reappeared since. The official explanation is that he's gone on a week-long conditioning trip, which he has been prone to taking once in a while to keep his skills sharp. But the suspicious thing is: he's never gone on a training trip more than once a year. And he's already done one this year."

Naruto let out a breath. "You think it might be possible that what happened in my world also happened here—that Orochimaru could be meeting with the Kazekage right now?"

"It might just be coincidence—but I've found that in the shinobi world we live in, events rarely happen because of coincidence." Jiraiya sighed. "I'll need to look into this as soon as possible. And with what I've been hearing about this new Sound Village… How did you find out about the meeting in your own world?"

"Rin had some protégé of hers infiltrate Orochimaru's organization. Turned out to be a traitor, too. I think his name was—Kabuto… something."

"Kabuto Yakushi? The genin famous for setting the record as the most Chuunin examinations failed?"

Naruto bit his lips. "Probably. But at the ambush, Kabuto was able to almost match up to Kakashi. Do you think that maybe he's a spy in this world as well?"

"Well, it won't hurt to look into it. If Sand and Orochimaru want to invade Konoha, we'll need to find out quickly."

"I agree."

Jiraiya continued. "We'll need to inform the Sandaime of this, Naruto. Even if it turns out to be false, he still needs to know."

"Yeah, I know," said Naruto with a sigh. "But I don't trust him enough to tell him the full truth—which was why I lied. And until I find I can, I'm not going to tell him everything." The blond boy stared hard at the white-haired man. "Are you okay with this?"

Jiraiya nodded slowly. "I won't tell him. For now. But if a situation ever comes up where I have to choose between Konoha's security and the secret—"

"I know what you'll choose," finished Naruto with a smile. "And that's exactly why I know I can trust you."

There was a moment of silence as each was lost in his own thoughts.

Naruto now knew a lot more about the world he had turned up in. It was disturbingly similar, and yet so fundamentally different. The point of divergence between his own world and this one seemed to stem from which Hokage sacrificed his life to seal the demon. A single change that led to such different worlds….

Jiraiya interrupted his thoughts. "What are your future plans? Obviously you needed me to back up your abilities. Do you have any specific goals in mind? Other than finding your way back home, of course."

Naruto took a long sip from his cup. "I've got several. Like you said, my long-term goals include finding a way back to my own world as well as finding a way to free my counterpart—but for my short-term goals? Well, I need to climb up the ladder, fast. As well you know now, I'm far beyond the level of genin and chuunin, even most jounin."

Jiraiya nodded in agreement. "And how do you plan to do this? Apart from a potential threat from Sand, Konoha has had no hostilities with any village—which means you won't be able to be promoted without being tested through Chuunin and Jounin examinations."

"I know. But I was hoping that with you providing a good explanation for my skills, I could show the Sandaime my abilities and bypass the usual system through ANBU."

"Hmm, I see. That's possible. And it wouldn't be beyond you, since you've already been a captain before. But of course, even then, you'll still be at the bottom of the ANBU command chain and it'll take years to climb back up to the top."

Naruto rubbed his temples with frustration. "Yeah, I thought about that too. But seriously, unless there's suddenly a war, it's the only way I can get to the top quickly. What else can I do?" He looked up to see Jiraiya grinning, and leaned back as a foreboding feeling filled his gut.

"Well, there's this other way that might work, and would push you right up to the top."

"Why do I feel like I'm not going to enjoy this?"

Jiraiya's grin widened. "First, we need to check up on our possible traitor, Kabuto."

Naruto frowned. "And how are we supposed to tell if he's a traitor or not? If he is, I'm sure he won't be leaving clues around for anyone to find. It would take an extensive amount of surveillance to check him out."

"Ah," said Jiraiya with a smug grin. "But spies always have ways of communicating either with the spymaster or with each other through hidden messages. Like, for example, the supposed innocent flower keeper placing exactly three white roses tied upside down on the top-left side of the store, which is meant to signal other spies something."

The blond jounin crossed his arms. "I know. But we don't know any of Orochimaru's coded signals." Blue eyes narrowed. "Or at least, you never told me you infiltrated his spy network." Jiyaiya's smug grin grew. Blue eyes widened. "You've infiltrated Orochimaru's network?!"

"I have," said Jiraiya, suddenly serious. "Just like I know he's infiltrated mine, I've also got into his. Of course, he also knows that I have."

Naruto shook his head slowly in disbelief. "You Sannin are all too good for each other, huh? Though I suppose at the level you guys are at, it's to be expected."

Jiraiya chuckled. "You're not so far from that 'level' yourself, Naruto. Well, that is _if_ I can believe your analysis of your own skills."

Blue eyes glared. "What?"

The white-haired legend leaned forward. "If this Kabuto turns out to be spy, then I want to see for myself how good you are. If you really turn out to be as great as you claim, then I will back you a hundred percent. And if you really are at the level of an elite jounin—"

Naruto met Jiraiya's stare, realizing that _this_ was Jiraiya's grand plan.

"—I'm sure you'll be able to show Sarutobi this as well—when you confront and subdue Kabuto yourself."

* * *

The two were once again sitting inside the Hokage office with the Sandaime. The old Hokage was lightly puffing on his pipe, waiting patiently for the two to start.

When nobody spoke for several long minutes, the Sandaime finally asked. "Is there something you two wish to tell me?"

Naruto glanced at his white-haired co-conspirator. The idea that Jiraiya had suggested was outrageous. It was crazy. It would never work. But it never hurt to try.

Jiraiya even had a serious expression on his face as he finally began. "We've recently uncovered information that's, well, disturbing."

Kabuto was a spy. Jiraiya had set up a signal that told all spies to be aware that emergency instructions would be sent within the week. Kabuto's reaction to the signal had been very well hidden—but it was obvious to the blond jounin and Sannin who were actively looking for such a response.

So it was confirmed. Kabuto Yakushi was a spy in this world as well.

"Oh?" the Sandaime said, preparing himself as he realized that his conversation would be a serious one. "What information is this?"

"Naruto uncovered it, actually. He noticed suspicious behavior from one of our own shinobi and carefully spied on this person. Combined with his observations and intelligence from my own network, I'm very certain of its veracity."

The Sandaime's eyes narrowed. "Tell me."

Jiraiya drew in a deep breath, before releasing it slowly. "War. The Sand and the newly created Sound Village are creating an alliance to strike at Konoha."

Naruto could see no visible reaction in the aged Hokage, yet he could feel the air surrounding him get heavier. The Sandaime slowly let out a puff of smoke, his eyes giving a faraway look, as though his mind were bursting with a whirlwind of thoughts. At last, his eyes re-focused on the two sitting in front of him.

"How?"

A single word, yet Naruto understood what the Hokage was asking and replied. "I heard about this one genin who apparently failed over six chuunin examination and really really wanted to meet him, right? And so I looked for him by asking around and found out where his team usually trains! It was really hard to find, too! It's like, so totally out of the way—"

Jiraiya interrupted with an exasperated sigh. "Get to the point, brat." The Sandaime didn't disagree.

Naruto pouted. "Fine. Well, I found out that Kabuto and his teammates were talking to his one guy whose headband had a single musical note etched on it. I later asked ero-sennin about it and he told me it meant the ninja was from the Hidden Sound. Anyways, it was really suspicious so I snuck up really quietly and heard them talking about some guy named Orochimaru—"

The Sandaime exhaled sharply, looking at Jiraiya as if to confirm what Naruto had said, and the Toad Hermit nodded.

"Orochimaru," murmured the old Hokage.

Naruto continued when the Sandaime's eyes refocused on him. "Yeah, so, this Sound-nin says something like, '_Just make sure you're participating in the Chuunin exams—that's when the invasion'll take place_.' And I knew it was pretty serious. So I told ero-sennin and he said he would contact his sources and confirm it before telling you. So… yeah. We're telling you now."

The Sandaime glanced at the blond boy, before returning his gaze to his former student. "And how did you confirm this, Jiraiya?"

"Well, I was pretty sure from the start that Orochimaru was the leader of the Hidden Sound and I just got word that the Kazekage has left the Hidden Sand for an apparent training trip—"

"But the Kazekage has already taken one this year, and it's obvious you think there's a connection—that Orochimaru and the Kazekage are finalizing the alliance as we speak," concluded the Sandaime in a murmur, steeping his fingers under his chin. His face was blank and yet his eyes were dark with anger and—for a long moment, the old Hokage looked his age. "This is very serious indeed."

Naruto could very well see that the old Hokage was extremely disturbed. And he could understand and relate. When the boy had first heard that his village and the Hidden Cloud were officially at war, it had terrified him. To be honest, that war was declared was no surprise—everyone knew it was going to happen eventually. The escalating tension between the two villages had been no secret—and yet when true war broke out… Naruto had been terrified.

He could still remember feeling that cold shock when Jiraiya told him why they were heading back to Konoha at full speed.

It must be what the Hokage was feeling this very moment.

War.

"We will need to move quickly, then." The Hokage looked up at the two, all hint of weakness gone, and there was strength in his words. "Jiraiya, I know you don't like to stay in the village any longer than necessary—" he frowned, glancing at Naruto, "—or so I thought. But in any case, will you stay and help protect the village?"

"Do you even need to ask, sensei?" replied the Toad Hermit quietly.

The Sandaime nodded, strong determination glinting in his eyes. "It seems I will need to reactivate the ANBU War Division. We have much work to do—the invasion will happen during the Chuunin Examinations this year, you said?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, at least, that's what I heard."

"Naruto and I have discussed this already, sensei. We think it might be best to go directly to our best source for more accurate intelligence."

The Sandaime's eyes narrowed as he understood what they were saying. "You want to interrogate Kabuto?"

"Capture him, and tear out all the information in his head," agreed Jiraiya.

"It will definitely alert Orochimaru," cautioned the old Hokage.

Jiraiya replied wryly, "Orochimaru's not going miss the fact that we've begun preparing for war. It would be better for us to retrieve what information we can so we can get a better picture of what'll happen."

"I see," murmured the Sandaime. "You seem to have given thought to this already."

Jiraiya puffed out his chest. "Of course I have! I'm the great—!"

Naruto interrupted with an annoyed glare. "Anyways, ero-sennin and I thought this would be a great chance to show you my combat skills!"

"Oh?" The Hokage raised an eyebrow. "Against an experienced Genin like Kabuto? He's had years of practice, Naruto. It would be better to leave this to ANBU."

"Not an experienced _Genin_, sensei," corrected Jiraiya. The Sandaime gave him a questioning look. "Kabuto's been lying about his skills for years now. I'd say he's good enough to beat most jounin. Perhaps a match for Kakashi or Gai."

The Sandaime's eyes widened. "I see. Kabuto has been an excellent actor, to hide his talents right under our noses." The Hokage once again glanced at the two. "Then again, perhaps I need to thoroughly review my ANBU Internal Intelligence Division, since it seems we even missed the fact that you've been training Naruto for years as well."

Both Jiraiya and Naruto grinned cheekily in response, and the Sandaime resisted the urge to sigh exasperatedly.

"In any case, if Kabuto is truly that strong, then I can't allow you to face him, Naruto. I'll organize an ANBU squad to deal with the spy."

"But—!"

The Sandaime frowned. "No 'but's, Naruto. I cannot in good conscience allow an inexperienced Genin attempt to capture such an important intelligence asset vital to the village's security."

"I can do it! Really, I can!"

"Trust me, sensei. The boy will give us a show. After all, I've trained him for four years now. And you know how far my other apprentice got with studying under me for less than that."

The Sandaime had a pensive look on his face. Naruto felt the heavy weight of the Hokage's analyzing gaze.

After several long minutes, the Hokage finally nodded. "Very well, then. But Jiraiya and I will step in the moment we feel it necessary."

The blond boy smirked. _Agreed._

* * *

_  
__**To be continued...**_

_ANBU ARC Part One: __Intelligence Gathering__ will be updated very soon_, _but reviews really help encourage me to write! So take the hint, spend a minute, and _review! _As I've said before, I honestly appreciate each and every review you make, even the one-worded ones. Reviews really show me that you've taken precious time out of your schedule to comment on my fic--and there's nothing more an author can ask._

* * *

**Technique Translations:**

1. Fuuton: Rasenshuriken -- Spiraling Windmill Technique -- _the higher level version of the Rasengan_

* * *

**End Notes:**

We're finally done with the Intro Arc. Now the story will begin to flow much faster and we'll start into the thick of things.

We are now entering the ANBU Arc.

Jiraiya is an extremely difficult character to write. To be honest, he's my absolute favorite in the Naruto world. And I was absolutely devastated when I read of his death. It was such a poignant moment. But for the first time, I was actually glad with the way Kishimoto finished him. It was a sad, it was devastating. Yet it really fit Jiraiya's character. Ever the gallant Toad Hermit. He'll be given a spotlight in this fic.

Thanks for reading.

Please, once again, review! Tell me what you think! I really appreciate any and all feedback.

Comments always welcome.

-- _liath_


	6. ANBU ARC 01: Intelligence Gathering

* * *

_**AN**__sastsu Senjutsu Tokushu __**BU**__tai Arc_  
**Part I: Intelligence Gathering**

_by Taliath_

* * *

It had only been a single day since she and her partner had encountered Uzumaki—and if her partner had anything to say about it, they'd never meet the kid again.

Unfortunately for Heiro and to the greatest amusement of Kayumi, they were in fact assigned to oversee Uzumaki's capture of an apparent spy.

Of course, Kayumi didn't quite understand why the Hokage would allow an untested, inexperienced Genin attempt to subdue a shinobi spy capable enough to warrant both the Toad Hermit and the Sandaime, as well as a squad of ANBU nearby, to supervise. But it wasn't her place to question.

Thus, less than a single day from that disastrous encounter with the blond boy, Kayumi once again was staring blankly at an energetic orange-clothed highly excitable Uzumaki.

"So remember!" chirped the boy enthusiastically at the Hokage, the white-haired Sannin, and the ANBU squad. "No interfering unless it looks like I'm about to lose him, okay?"

"We all get it already," groaned Jiraiya, annoyed. "Simmer down, boy. Kabuto would've already gotten the fake message to meet here and might even be on his way. We need to get in our places."

"Indeed," said the Sandaime, before he turned to the ANBU shinobi. "You've all been given brief instructions but I'll go through this in more detail: This is an operation is meant to capture a spy. You four have been chosen because of your outstanding stealth abilities. The six of us, apart from Naruto, will form a widespread perimeter. Naruto will engage the spy and attempt to secure Kabuto on his own. However, should he fail and the spy attempt to flee, you are to engage at once. Again, be aware that this spy is capable of matching Kakashi. Your function will thus be to delay the spy's escape long enough for the rest of us to get involved. Understood?"

"Hai," replied Kayumi along with the other masked ANBU ninjas.

"All right then!" shouted the blond boy, pumping a fist into the air. "Let's get this started! And I'll show you what ero-sennin really taught me during those four years! Yeah!"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes, before disappearing. The Sandaime, concern in his eyes, gave the boy one final look, before he too disappeared. One by one the other masked shinobi faded away until only Kayumi remained.

"Uzumaki," she said tonelessly.

"ANBU-chan!" greeted Uzumaki cheerfully, before he pouted in disappointment. "You got rid of the orange highlights from yesterday!" The boy struggled to put on long dark robes that would cover his entire body and then some, thus hiding his identity from Kabuto.

"Yes." Kayumi had unfortunately realized that orange highlights did not go well with stealth. "Good luck."

"Aww, ANBU-chan, don't worry!" Uzumaki grinned brightly, scratching the back of his head. "I'll kick his ass easily!"

Kayumi nodded slightly, before she activated a hand seal that would allow her to use her bugs to completely mask her chakra signature—

Uzumaki lifted the hood of his robes, covering his face. He muttered to her, "Trust me on this—"

—she formed another seal in order to disappear in a Shunshin—

"—Kayumi-chan."

Kayumi's eyes widened even as she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

The grin on Namikaze Naruto's face slid off as he watched the surprised Kayumi disappear.

He knew her, of course. After all, in his former world—he had been, for a short while, her ANBU captain. She had been as efficient there as she was here, from what he could see. Quiet, perceptive, capable, and coldly logical. She was an Aburame through and through.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Naruto focused on the matter at hand: Kabuto.

It would be interesting to fight him, for sure. It wasn't often that Naruto as paired against a shinobi of his own caliber. And it was rarer still that elite shinobi were pit against each other head on.

In the real shinobi world, one-on-one duels rarely took place. The fact was that shinobi always traveled in groups of at least two. To travel by oneself was suicide—unless, of course, one was S-rank. But that was another matter entirely. In Naruto's home dimension, there were less than thirty S-rank shinobi still _known_ to be living. In the whole of the shinobi world, consisting of tens of thousands of Genin, thousands of chuunin, nearly a thousand jounin—less than thirty were still living who had achieved that legendary status.

And truth be told, even elite jounin like Naruto and Kakashi were rare. Not as rare as S-rank ninjas, but still rare enough that elite jounin rarely faced off against each other in battle.

The Konoha of this world, for example, only had five active S-rank shinobi: the Legendary Sannin, the Sandaime, and apparently Uchiha Itachi. Of those five, two were traitors. The Konoha of this world also only had nine declared loyal elite jounin still active in the field: Kakashi, Tenzo, Gai, one ANBU captain, and five ANBU commanders whose names were, as purposefully done, virtually unknown. Of course, there were other A-ranked shinobi in Konoha's arsenal, but all had retired to become leading heads of their families.

Thus, in Naruto's short two years since becoming enlisted as an A-rank shinobi in most bingo books, he had only directly fought to kill against others of his capacity or higher less than a dozen times.

Naruto fought against a grin as a thrill of excitement swept through him.

It was almost time.

He carefully focused his chakra and altered his own signature as much as possible. It would hold up only under a cursory glance—but that was all that was necessary. He would only need Kabuto to actually get close before launching his own attack. Kabuto, as a spy, should already be suspicious enough and thus it would be stupid of Naruto to assume he could fool the teen for long.

Naruto frowned as he tried to see if he could sense the presence of the others in the perimeter surrounding the clearing, and smiled when he couldn't. Of course, he knew he wouldn't be able to sense either Jiraiya or the Sandaime, yet he hadn't been too sure of the others. But sure enough, the ANBU shinobi were truly exceptional in their stealth abilities.

There would be only two things working in Naruto's favor for this fight. First of all, Kabuto would certainly be underestimating him, expecting to fight a Genin when in actuality Naruto was anything but. Second, Naruto had the element of surprise. But these two factors were quite decisive in battles.

In fact, circumstances dictated that Naruto should be able to finish this match quickly and quietly. Certainly shinobi of his caliber were difficult to kill and even more difficult to capture—and yet the situation was such that Naruto could certainly take down Kabuto with no trouble, avoiding a fight completely. After all, Kabuto just simply could not be prepared to face Naruto when the boy was at his most cunning.

Naruto could have formed a thousand clones and transformed each of them into small pebbles that filled the entire field where the battle would take place. Or he could have spent hours crafting a large seal that would virtually trap the spy. Or he could have struck when Kabuto was least suspecting of it, when the spy was resting in his home. Or he could have sparred with Kabuto under the guise of a Genin before landing an unexpected strike, thus disabling him. Or he could have used any one of his rather large collection of ninjutsu to restrain the spy.

Yes, he could have done all of that and more, and it would be far more efficiently done than what he was planning to do now—

Yet the whole point of this battle was to show to the Sandaime irrefutable proof of Naruto's capabilities as a shinobi. And none of those quick-and-dirty assaults would have impressed the Sandaime enough to agree to the next phase of Jiraiya's plans.

Plans that concerned the upcoming war and the re-formation of the ANBU War Division. Plans that would launch Naruto up to the very top.

No. Quick and dirty would not do. Simply striking Kabuto with the Rasengan would not do. Disabling the spy too quickly would not do.

Naruto had to, for lack of a better description, "show off" his skills.

Thus, most unfortunately for Kabuto, Naruto was going to draw out this fight and show the Sandaime once and for all that he, Namikaze Naruto, was no joke.

The blond boy couldn't help but grin at this point.

Ahh, yes. He would certainly give them a show to remember.

* * *

Kabuto Yakushi carefully avoided another chuunin pair patrolling the city as he slowly made his way to the meeting point. He had a grey cloak and hood hiding his identity as he stealthily approached the location specified in the message he had received just hours before.

He had been prepared for such a message, of course. It had been slightly shocking to see the emergency codes on his usual way back home after a standard mission, yet it also brought back up the confusion he had been feeling since he had started working for Orochimaru.

He had been a spy for such a long time. For years he had been sending intelligence reports, not just to Orochimaru, but to others who allied themselves to his master. He no longer even remembered why he had decided to spy on Konoha in the first place.

He had never felt a connection to his adopted village. Had never even remotely felt at home here, never made a lasting relationship with anyone—Konoha wasn't anything to him.

Perhaps this was the reason why he had never felt guilty about betraying his so-called home.

In any case, the confusion he felt now had nothing to do with conflicting loyalties. Rather, he felt conflicted because he hadn't made up his mind yet whether it was profitable for him to continue aiding Orochimaru. To be perfectly honest, though he felt no connection to Konoha, it was still the only place he truly knew like the back of his hand. And he wasn't quite sure whether he wanted it destroyed quite yet.

Well, at least Orochimaru truly believed Kabuto was loyal to his cause. Kabuto was a rather talented actor, and he used his talents to fool many of his masters.

Thus, he was quite well-informed of the Sannin's plans. And they were at once genius and risky. There was no arguing with that. And yet, there were so many possible ways that it could fail—which would then be rather disadvantageous to Kabuto.

The teen spy resisted the urge to sigh. Well, the meeting between the Kazekage and Orochimaru would have started now. And there were still three months until the date of the invasion. Time enough to decide whether he would really support the mad genius. Time enough to—

He had arrived.

Beyond the trees was the clearing, the meeting point as designated by the urgent message, where he would be given further instruction.

He could see a single figure standing confidently in the center of the clearing, as if to say nothing foul was happening. The figure was cloaked in robes similar to Kabuto's own and the hood obscured any possibility of identifying who it was.

The teen spy frowned as he attempted to analyze the chakra signature—he didn't recognize who it was. Which meant that this figure wasn't someone from Konoha, as Kabuto had made it a point to know quite well the signatures from most of Konoha's top shinobi. Good.

A sharp glance around showed no one in hiding, and Kabuto couldn't feel any other chakra sources either—this was no trap, then.

Finally certain that the figure in the clearing was alone, Kabuto set out to meet whoever it was.

For now, at least, Kabuto would do as Orochimaru wanted from him. For now, at least, Kabuto would play along. He had three months to really decide. And three months was both a long and short while.

"You have instruction for me?" questioned Kabuto, as he stopped two meters away from the figure. The figure slowly turned to face him. Kabuto lifted his hood and showed the figure his face.

The figure also lifted his hands up as if to lower his own hood—

Kabuto's eyes narrowed as the hood slowly slid off—

And his eyes widened with shock when the moonlight showed the figure's identity. "Uzumaki Naruto?!"

Uzumaki gave him a bright grin. "Hi, Kabuto-san! I see you already know my name!"

Kabuto couldn't help but feel rather astonished. Uzumaki Naruto was the very last person he was expecting to meet.

"Yeah, I know yours too!" said Uzumaki, his eyes glinting with amusement. "Do you want to know how?"

The spy forced his mind to clear away and allow cold logic to take presence. What did this mean? Could Uzumaki be a spy from Orochimaru as well?

No, impossible!

Slowly the chakra signature from Uzumaki shifted and changed until Kabuto recognized it was the boy's—with the underlying taint of the demon's chakra mixing with its container's. It really was Uzumaki Naruto!

"Oh, come on, say something," pouted the boy. "It's no fun otherwise!"

It took only a split moment—Kabuto was already moving before his mind realized that he decided on his course of action—and with a burst of speed the spy blurred in to kill the boy. Moonlight glinted on the shiny metal of his kunai, as Kabuto swung his arm to deliver a killing blow—

Yes, Kabuto had decided.

This Uzumaki might be a spy from Orochimaru.

Or the boy might have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Or perhaps by some illogical reason the boy was being used as bait against Kabuto.

Yet one thing was clear—he had to kill the boy and get away as soon as possible.

Thus most unfortunately for Uzumaki, Kabuto would have to kill him—

—and so it truly was disturbing to the teen spy when the bright grin on the boy's face only stretched wider as death soared towards him.

Kabuto experienced a _very bad feeling._

* * *

Moonlight shone down on the clearing, brightly illuminating Uzumaki and Kabuto.

It allowed Kayumi a great view as she had settled down in a location where she was of just the right distance—far enough that she was out of harm's way, yet close enough to watch.

It had unsettled her greatly when Uzumaki had spoken her name. How had he known? Could she have made a mistake and revealed her identity somehow? Perhaps the Hokage had informed Uzumaki of her name? No. Impossible. The names of ANBU shinobi were kept extremely secret. Even from family.

Then how?

She had been in the midst of pondering these questions when she had felt the arrival of Kabuto. And it did surprise her that she had been able to _see_ him before she _felt _him. This Kabuto fellow had to have extraordinary control of his chakra to manage that—

—and this only made that uncomfortable feeling in her gut get worse.

Uzumaki Naruto. He was a child full of contradictions. She knew of him—or rather, of his burden. And she had never actually heard anything positive about his character. Working under the Hokage for nearly two years now, she had had much exposure to the kid. The Sandaime had been rather fond of the boy, and the boy had made it a habit to visit the Hokage.

From her previous observations, she had concluded that Uzumaki was harmless. A child, obnoxious and loud and rather hyperactive—yet there was a sense of innocence and naivety about him. She had always found that to be interesting.

And yet, the boy she had encountered yesterday—and the boy she was seeing before her now—were so different from her expectations.

"Oh, come on, say something," pouted the boy. "It's no fun otherwise!"

That boy, thought Kayumi with a hint of a frown. Just begging for trouble. He had been the same last evening too, come to think of it. Testing her partner's temper like—

Her eyes widened.

Kabuto had literally disappeared from her sight—a sneak attack!—

She watched with disbelief as Naruto casually reached up and firmly intercepted the strike, a tight grip on Kabuto's outstretched arm, a small smirk twitching on his otherwise calm face.

Calm. Kayumi was anything but. Outward she still projected nothing of course, and yet within she felt turmoil, a sickening feeling she always got when she knew she had just closely avoided sure death—

Because she had realized a startling truth: had she been the one standing in Naruto's place, that strike would have finished her before she had even realized what Kabuto was doing.

She forced herself not to shiver. To ignore that cold chill sliding up her spine.

Metal flashed—Uzumaki was _fast_—but Kabuto leaped up into the air, avoiding the boy's swipe, the spy's face cool and detached yet his eyes betrayed just how startled he was—

But Uzumaki was already moving, blurring out of Kayumi's view. There was a sharp clang of metal slamming down on metal—

For a split moment that seemed to last an eternity, the two figures were frozen in the moonlight. The soft light illuminated upon the pair: both wore long cloaks that fluttered in the night sky, both staring at each other with utterly serious expressions—

Then the moment passed and they both disappeared from her sight without a trace.

_So fast!_ thought Kayumi in dazed shock. _How could this be?_

The two appeared once again. Kabuto's hands, glowing blue, struck with utmost precision in strikes that resembled those of deadly snakes—swift, sharp, and completely unpredictable—yet Uzumaki matched him move for move with a style that seemed to resonate with the wind—light, free, unhindered, and utterly unstoppable—

Uzumaki lunged forward suddenly, the wind rushing up behind him, lending him their strength—two kunai appeared in his hands, a soft ethereal glow enveloping the blades—he twisted around a strike from Kabuto, and lashed out with his foot. Kabuto dodged with a jump and Uzumaki grinned.

Kayumi watched with another jolt of shock as Uzumaki twisted in mid-air, then blasted up as a fury of wind convulsed beneath him in a tight cone-like spiral, launching him up to Kabuto's height in a split second.

_The boy is wind-natured_, realized Kayumi. Then with a start, her thoughts continued. _How does a Genin know how to manipulate elemental chakra?_

Kabuto reached the apex of his ascent, suspended in the night sky for a split moment—just as Uzumaki burst level with him—and his eyes widened as Uzumaki thrust the wind-enhanced kunai blades at his chest.

The spy reacted without thinking—he had to stop those blades—and his glowing hands lashed out to grab hold of the kunai—

Sharp, white-hot pain spiked from his hand and Kabuto's eyes flickered down in shock. His hands were bleeding terribly as the wind-chakra had fully negated the distorted healing chakra that had been gathered in his hands, and the sharp blades had thorn through his skin and muscles to bone. And it _hurt_.

"First blood, mine," said Naruto quietly to the spy.

The two were them were locked together as they fell from the sky.

Kabuto felt, for the first time, fear. This was not at all what he had been expecting. This battle had reached a level he had rarely ever had to deal with. Truth be told, even he didn't quite know what his limits were as of yet. But this battle was quickly reaching a point where Kabuto was being forced to reveal his true strength. And it was made more frightening by the child facing him now. Those startling blue eyes, piercing and commanding, cold and calm—it was pissing the spy off.

He was mentally unbalanced, he knew. And he had already realized that this had been the point from the very start. He was woefully unprepared to deal with this new and utterly unexpected situation. He found his mind filled with a thousand threads of thought, whirling with a thousand new questions every moment, uncertainty filling every corner of his mind with doubt and confusion—it was not a sensation he enjoyed.

"I'm not who you expected me to be," continued Naruto softly, breaking into Kabuto's thoughts. Blue eyes met black. "Just as you're not who you appear to be. But that doesn't matter now. What matters is this: I know everything about you and Orochimaru." A slow, dark smile spread across his face. "And now, you'll pay the crime for high treason against the Hokage and against the Hidden Village of the Leaves. Prepare yourself, spy."

Kabuto forcefully pushed away the cold that attempted to grip his gut. He shoved away the confusion, the uncertainty, and the shock. He had been threatened. This, he could deal with. This, he was familiar with. And if this boy before him thought he could take Kabuto down, he had another thing coming.

"Naruto-kun," replied Kabuto lightly, a glint of light reflecting off his glasses, a tone of slight amusement entering his voice. He was grounded now. He knew what was at stake. He could handle this. "You are stronger than I thought, true." His hands began to emit a soft, blue glow once again as healing chakra began closing his wounds around the kunai still tightly gripped in his hands. "But only one of us will walk away tonight. And it will not be you."

A tension-filled silence stretched for a split second that lasted an eternity—each measuring the other as they fell down, down, down towards the waiting earth beneath them—

The moment ended.

Both flared their chakra as each executed moves that had been building to this point—

And the kunai in Kabuto's hands shattered to dust as the spy's chakra blasted out against the blond.

And the wind roared with fury as Naruto manipulated his chakra element, a torrent of slicing blades blasting out against the spy.

The two forces met instantly and a bright blue blaze briefly lit the clearing—

—and they were gone from sight in the next instant.

Hidden under a bush and genjutsu, Kayumi watched on silently.

* * *

Twist and duck. Kick—

No! No! **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! Kawarimi no Jutsu!**

Lean back—it was a feint—roll and punch.

**Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu!**

Singed, but still alive. Good.

Move, move, move! Feint and strike!

Throw kunai. _Dog, Ox, Rabbit, Horse_: **Kaze no Yaiba!**

Missed. Barely. Excellent—duck, duck!

Gather wind-natured chakra, strike up! Block. Spin and kick.

Leap away. Deep breath: **Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu!**

Up, up, up! Dodge left, strike right! Shit—block kick and roll!

Forward. Lean left, right, duck—gather wind-chakra—punch.

Missed. Still drew blood. Already healing.

_Sheep, Horse, Snake, Boar, Bird, Ox, Monkey, Dragon, Horse, Dragon, Dog, Rabbit, Sheep, Horse_, _Dragon_: **Doton Jishin no Jutsu!**

**Shunshin no Jutsu!**

Duck beneath strike. Enter within his guard. Gather chakra in arms—

Heel of palm strike to chin!

Blood.

Naruto had never felt so exhilarated in his life—well, at least in a long while.

It felt as though he were finally breaking free of hospital care and just restarted training—the feeling of satisfaction mixed with hard-won weariness and sweat. Ever since coming to this world, he had felt trapped to an extent. Unable to show his full abilities, unable to be his true self.

Yet finally he could. And he loved every tense moment of it.

Kabuto was good. No, better than good. He was _excellent_. Naruto had _never_ fought against a such an unbelievably capable Medic-nin apart from Tsunade. And while Kabuto didn't seem to use any real flashy jutsu, preferring to rely on taijutsu mixed with medical arts turned deadly, it was an utterly new experience for the boy.

In fact, Kabuto was _faster_ than Naruto in many regards. There the older ninja held a definite advantage. There was absolutely no way the blond could ever match up to the speed of spy's deadly strikes in a fair match. And Kabuto was very, very capable in dodging and avoiding hits. He conserved all his strength and his chakra, healing any truly damaging blows. A true medic through and through.

Yet instead of frustrating Naruto, it only fed on his excitement for the duel. And he pulled absolutely no stops in trying to take down the spy. He unleashed his full repertoire of taijutsu techniques and then some, improvising on previous improvisations, fully utilizing wind-natured chakra to disrupt Kabuto's twisted healing chakra. He used a wide-range of ninjutsu, partly to show his observers of his abilities, but also because Kabuto was just that damn good.

In fact, realization began to take in Naruto's mind that only through ninjutsu might the boy manage to subdue Kabuto. They were too evenly matched. Too close in abilities.

Sure, each excelled in their own areas. Kabuto was the definite better in taijutsu and medical techniques. Naruto was the definite better in ninjutsu and brute strength. Kabuto was skilled enough to conserve most of his energy, thus able to prolong this fight to stretch for an unacceptable time period before tiring—and Naruto simply had enough stamina that, even wasted, could match Kabuto to the end.

Kabuto's ruthless offensive with hands glowing of deadly healing chakra could be negated by Naruto's wind-natured chakra—and in reverse, Naruto's relentless offensive was rendered ineffective by Kabuto's supreme evasion abilities.

_That's it!_ thought Naruto as he charged up a dozen kunai with wind chakra and threw them at Kabuto. _I've definitely shown the Sandaime enough to prove how good I am. I have to end it now!_

Kabuto easily evaded the kunai with comfortable millimeters to spare and he sprang forward—

Naruto carefully hid one hand from Kabuto's line of sight as chakra began to spiral—his other hand distracted Kabuto by drawing another kunai, blue chakra running down its length—the Rasengan formed in a self-sustaining sphere—Kabuto's hands glared brighter, turning into a sinister green color as the deadly chakra pooled together to vaguely form a sharp point—

The blond began to added wind-natured chakra to the Rasengan, just enough to be sure to subdue the spy but not kill—the wind howled as it gathered in a deadly spiral—

Kabuto seemed to have noticed the concentration of chakra as he attempted to halt his forward momentum—

But it was too late and Naruto blurred forward, shooting out towards Kabuto with a snarl on his lips, baring his teeth—

"What—?" Kabuto attempted to dodge, but Naruto was too fast—

**Fuuton: Rasengan!**

Kabuto didn't have time to scream. He didn't have time to react. He literally did not have time to _think_.

Chakra exploded in a shockwave and the spiraling sphere expanded to trap the spy within its hold. Wind howled and roared throughout the once-silent clearing, kicking up leaves and grass and dirt in large clumps. Anyone within a quarter-mile radius would have felt the explosive release of chakra—

The vortex of chakra blades expanded to fill nearly the entire clearing, larger than the vortex created by even the Oodama Rasengan, and the destructive force drilled into the ground—sending large chunks of rock shooting out in every direction—

Then it was gone. The self-sustaining spiral sphere became too large, causing destabilization that resulted in the vortex disappearing. The condensed chakra finally dispersed on its own. Moonlight shined down into the clearing. Eerie silence filled the clearing. Large clouds of dust obscured any and all possible view.

For the briefest instant, Naruto feared that he had actually managed to kill the rogue-nin. He searched for Kabuto, but residual chakra still in the midst of dispersing interfered with his tracking ability—

But then as the chakra from the Rasengan dispersed further, he felt the small, flickering chakra source in the middle of the crater. The spy was still alive. Hurt and terribly damaged, but still breathing.

At last, Naruto allowed himself to let out a sigh. He finally allowed his stance to relax. His body, tense throughout the battle, finally allowed bone-deep weariness to wash through.

He had done it.

He carefully approached the crater edge and peered down at the still form of the spy. Behind him, he felt the appearance of both the Sandaime and Jiraiya, also the ANBU squad, but ignored them as he gazed at his fallen enemy.

Naruto wearily contemplated his victory. For it was a victory indeed. And now Kabuto would be subjected to extensive interrogation. He would be bled dry of information. And the blond didn't feel even a smidgeon of pity.

As two ANBU shinobi leaped down to seize the unconscious spy, the blond gave the teenager a final word of parting:

"Sayonara, Kabuto Yakushi."

He turned and walked away without once glancing back.

* * *

The Sandaime carefully considered the boy approaching him. Uzumaki Naruto. The boy of whom the aged Hokage had thought he had known everything about.

Yet now, reflected the Sandaime with a sliver of uneasiness, he came to the startling realization that perhaps he really had been fooled nearly the entire time.

At the start of the fight, the Third had been prepared to step in within a split moment's notice. No matter what his former student claimed about Naruto, the old man had been unwilling to accept that the boy was capable of matching an A-rank rogue shinobi. So he had watched, and waited, and had been fully prepared to intercept the teenage spy when Kabuto had leaped to kill Naruto—

No. There had been no need, as he found out. And he had watched as Naruto had flashed through all elements with ease. As he twisted and turned, dancing through the air as if it were his own domain, and with unbelievable speed summoned roaring towers of flames, arching bolts of lightning, terrifying barriers of water, ground-shaking manipulations of the earth, and howling streams of wind to do his bidding—showing mastery of not only his taijutsu but also a full range of elemental ninjutsu—

And more. Through this fight, the Sandaime saw Naruto's cunning, his ability to turn defense into offense and offense into defense, improvising on the spot to his advantage. The Sandaime saw Naruto's determination and skill. His control and efficiency—

And his experience.

Cold, hard experience that could only have been gained through time. There was a fluency in his movements, in his automatic, semi-conscious reactions during the fight that revealed gradual and proper development of muscle memory. And it was clear that Uzumaki Naruto was an efficient, trained, highly capable, easily A-ranked shinobi.

But the old Hokage wondered why, instead of happiness for the blond, all he felt was true sadness. Why, instead of feeling joy for Naruto's strength and ability, he felt uneasy and uncomfortable.

It wasn't that he felt Naruto was too young to be capable of this. After all, the Sandaime had seen many child prodigies during his time. His own students, the Legendary Three Summoners of Konoha, had become a Genin-team by the age of six and within a decade had become well-known elite jounin. The Sandaime had appointed another genius to become the Yondaime after him, the legendary Yellow Flash who had also graduated the academy at the age of six. The old Hokage had seen and heard of many shinobi who had been child prodigies—he himself had become the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure when he had been only a year older than Naruto was now!

And yet—

Orochimaru. Uchiha Itachi.

Yes. That was it, he realized. That was why he felt perturbed. Those two had been the geniuses amongst geniuses. And each had betrayed their home village and caused reparable damage to the name and standing of Konoha.

It had been in the aftermath of the Uchiha massacre that the Sandaime realized the truth: forcing children to perform as shinobi before they were mentally prepared caused terrible psychological damage. Every child shinobi that the Hokage knew showed such cracks in their psychology. Every damn single shinobi.

Forced to grow up too quickly before they were truly ready—it was unforgivable that anyone could place such burdens on kids so young.

Thus, in the aftermath of the Uchiha massacre, the Sandaime had made it a law that none under the age of ten could become Konoha shinobi. And he had personally, and very seriously, recommended that the Academy not allow anyone under the age of twelve to graduate—

"So, how'd I do?" asked Naruto lightly, his eyes bright.

Jiraiya grinned. "Longer than I thought it'd take you."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever, ero-sennin. You just don't want to admit that I'm cooler than you."

Jiraiya shook his head solemnly. "You're wrong, brat. There's nothing cooler in this world than being an ultra super pervert!"

The Sandaime blinked away memories, sighing as he saw the two's antics. Children. "You did exceedingly well, Naruto. I must admit, I didn't really believe what Jiraiya was telling me until just now. You show amazing skill and talent. You may very well one day become Hokage."

Naruto's grin looked strained. Most likely because he was tired, surmised the aged Hokage.

"Right! I told you I was awesome!" cheered Naruto, pumping a fist into the air. "I'll be Hokage in no time!"

The ANBU were watching Naruto with something akin to awe and fear which was reflected in their body language, the Sandaime noticed. And it wasn't far from what he was feeling as well. The image he had held of Naruto had been firmly and thoroughly shattered this night.

_Who are you, Uzumaki Naruto? _wondered the Third. _Where is the boy I thought I knew? How could you have fooled me so effectively?_

"Hokage-sama," muttered Kayumi, her voice steady as always. Devoid of emotion. "The spy will need medical treatment to last the night."

"Very well," replied the old Hokage wearily. _I must focus on the present. _"Take him to the Interrogation chambers. Ibiki should be ready to take him." Kayumi and her partner, each supporting one side of Kabuto, bowed quickly and turned to leave—when the Sandaime continued. "Oh, and secure Kabuto as much as possible. I want one of you to watch him at all times. No mistakes."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," they both muttered, blurring out of sight.

"Li, Reisha," said the Sandaime. The two remaining ANBU straightened. "Inform the Council of Elders that there will be an emergency meeting convening in two hours. As we will be discussing issues of utmost importance to village security, I will not accept any reason for tardiness whatsoever. Go."

The two ANBU disappeared.

"So, sensei," said Jiraiya, his eyes serious. "You believe us now?"

"It seems I have no choice," replied the Sandaime, his voice hard. "You and I will have words on this later, Jiraiya. But now is not the time."

"No," agreed Jiraiya. "The Sand and Sound are really going to wage war against us. We need to stop them."

"Ero-sennin and I've got an idea," Naruto added carefully, but confidently. "It's risky—but we might just have enough time for it. But time is of the essence."

The Sandaime drew in a deep breath. His eyes gazed out at the once pristine clearing. Now, it was utterly destroyed. A large crater sat in the middle. Rocks, trees, plants, grass—everywhere. The forest was completely still for miles—the wild animals frightened to silence. Moonlight filtered down into a barren clearing.

Destroyed. Completely. By a single, unbelievably devastating technique. An improved version of the Rasengan.

Wielded by the son of its creator.

The Sandaime let out his breath in a long sigh. "I would like to hear it. In my office. I have no doubt it will be risky—but more importantly, brilliant."

Naruto grinned brightly, scratching the back of his head. His eyes shined crystal blue in the moonlight. He projected cheerfulness and joy. He was happy, and it showed. His clothes were ruffled, dirty, and ripped—and he must've been experiencing weariness from both physical and chakra exhaustion. But his stance was confident. Strong.

For the briefest moment, the Sandaime's sight blurred—and another image overlay his view of Naruto. It was the image of an older man. A man of legends told throughout the world. Namikaze Minato. The aged Hokage felt his chest squeeze as a rush of emotions swept through his body.

_Minato, I'm so sorry. I failed to keep him safe._

The Sandaime forced himself to look past the image and meet Naruto's eyes.

_It should have been me who summoned the Death God._

"There, you can tell me of your plan, Naruto,—"

_Minato, I failed. And now, Naruto is—_

"—Konoha's newest jounin shinobi."

* * *

_  
__**To be continued...  
**_

_ANBU ARC Part Two: __War Division__ will be updated very soon_, _but reviews really help encourage me to write! So take the hint, spend a minute, and _review! _As I've said before, I honestly appreciate each and every review you make, even the one-worded ones. Reviews really show me that you've taken precious time out of your schedule to comment on my fic--and there's nothing more an author can ask._

* * *

**Technique Translations:  
**

1. Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu -- Fire Dragon Flame Blast -- _creates a dragon of fire that is semi-controllable and requires a massive influx of chakra_  
2. Kaze no Yaiba -- Wind Blade -- _a very low-ranked technique that requires basic mastery of wind-element chakra manipulation and can in fact be used inefficiently without handseals_.  
3. Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu -- Water Dragon Blast -- _normally requires the use of an alternate source of water as even with such a source, the chakra requirements are massive. Thankfully, chakra freaks such as Naruto can waste even more chakra converting air to water. _  
4. Doton Jishin no Jutsu -- Earthquake Technique -- _an extremely slow yet powerful technique, it affects a wide-area with earthquake-like tremors that can destabilize enemy ninja and provide extreme distraction _

* * *

**End Notes:**

It's been less than a week since my last update. I'm amazed that I actually managed to keep this pace. This chapter took quite a while to write, to be honest. I'm only just starting to get the hang of writing physical fighting scenes, which is why it was so difficult.

The next chapter will deal with much of the aftermath. However, I believe I might even be able to include an interlude featuring the many other important characters as a sort of foreshadowing.

In any case, I hope you found this fight to be enjoyable. Please do understand that I seriously am a beginner when it comes to writing physical fights. Seriously.

Well, I suppose that's all there is to say, really. I do hope that you'll grant me some leeway in how I made Naruto an elite-jounin already. But I promise that not everything will be quite so easy for him in the future. Problems will grow into the epic-scale and I hope you'll enjoy what troubles I have planned for him.

Thanks for reading.

Please, once again, review! Tell me what you think! I really appreciate any and all feedback.

Comments always welcome.

-- _liath_


	7. ANBU ARC 02: Hatake Kakashi

* * *

_**AN**__sastsu Senjutsu Tokushu __**BU**__tai Arc_  
**Part II: Hatake Kakashi**

_by Taliath_

* * *

The Sandaime steeped his fingers under his chin. "You are serious?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Yeah. We're serious."

"But we still don't know whether or not they are still—"

"Which is why we've captured Kabuto," interrupted Naruto impatiently. "With the information we can take from him, we'll easily be able to—"

"Easily? I think not." The Sandaime frowned. "Besides, even if we were to send a formidable strike force, there's no guarantee we'll succeed in neutralizing the threat."

"Are there ever any guarantees in our business, Sensei?" Jiraiya leaned forward. "But now is the perfect time, you have to admit. And they won't be expecting us."

"And what if we succeed? What then?" The Sandaime shook his head. "You haven't thought this through. So what if we manage to—"

"If we succeed, we'll have effectively neutralized the Sand since the Kazekage is outside the village at the moment. What else is there to think about?"

The Sandaime glared down at Naruto. "But for how long, Naruto? All we have bought for ourselves is time, and the remnants of Sand will forever be our enemy."

"They already _are_ our enemy," stated Jiraiya. "And we need the time. We're not nearly ready to face another war, sensei, not with how complacent we've gotten. And we won't be able prepare for everything in less than three months."

The aged Hokage sighed. "But what you are suggesting, if it were to fail, would cause irreparable damage to any possible future solutions."

"If it succeeds, though," Naruto added enthusiastically, "we'll have effectively rendered the alliance between Sound and Sand useless. And we now have the perfect opportunity to pull it off."

There was a long moment of silence.

They had been arguing for over the past hour about Naruto's plan. Convincing the Sandaime it was the correct path of action was proving to be more difficult than the newly-appointed jounin thought.

"In any case, for this plan to work, you will need information we could not possible get within our time limit. Ibiki is an excellent interrogator, but even he cannot be expected to retrieve so much information from Kabuto so soon."

Naruto blinked. "Wait, what? Why would Ibiki interrogate Kabuto?"

The Sandaime's eyes narrowed in on Naruto. "Who else would, Naruto? Do you even know who Ibiki is?"

"Isn't he the assistant chief to the current head interrogator…?"

Jiraiya reached over and smacked Naruto on the head, rolling his eyes. "I told you, brat. Ibiki _is_ the head interrogator of ANBU!"

"Oh," muttered Naruto, his face blank and one hand rubbing the back of his head. "Ibiki-san, huh?"

_So_, thought the boy with an inner frown, _another significant difference with my world and this one. Where the hell is Yamanaka Inoichi?_

"As I was saying," continued the Sandaime with a sigh. "Without accurate information, your plan cannot take place. This discussion is rendered useless. We simply do not have enough time for Ibiki to break Kabuto."

"No!" Naruto thought furiously; his next few words needed to be said carefully. "Isn't there another way to get the information we need?"

"What do you mean?" the Third asked.

"I know about the Yamanaka techniques. Don't some of their techniques deal with memory and stuff? Couldn't one of them search Kabuto's mind?"

Jiraiya nodded slowly, rubbing his chin. "Yeah, they do. But those techniques are extremely dangerous, more so for the one doing it than for the victim. In fact, I'd say there's only one person mentally strong enough and experienced enough to do it safely, but he hasn't been doing anything of the sort for years now, right, Sensei?"

The Sandaime's eyes darkened momentarily. "No, not after the incident. Poor Inoichi has sworn never to do such a thing again."

The blonde looked at the two in confusion. "What incident?"

Jiraiya answered slowly. "From what I've heard, nine years ago, Inoichi was assigned to interrogate a young chuunin captured from Hidden Cloud. We had concrete evidence she was aware of a plan to disrupt the signing of the peace treaty between the Leaf and Cloud. She claimed innocence, but the Council obtained information that she was to play a pivotal part in the scheme. Inoichi was pressured from the Council of Elders to use all his techniques as ruthlessly as possible to seize the information."

"There were limitations on time," added the Sandaime quietly, "and the sensitivity of the issue forced our hand."

Naruto winced. He could already see where this was headed.

"Yeah," said Jiraiya, nodding at Naruto's reaction. "Inoichi viciously tore through her mind and her memories. Within two hours he had completely subdued her entire spirit and had searched every corner — and in the process, caused irreparable damage to her psyche. Which would have been worth it, if she really had been part of the scheme."

Naruto sighed. "I can guess the rest. In the end, the girl was found to be innocent, but it was too late for her. Her mind was torn apart by Inoichi's techniques."

"And he swore in the aftermath never to interrogate another person," finished Jiraiya. "It was the final nail in the coffin. You have to understand, mind techniques are terribly stressful. Lesser men would have given up immediately. In fact, only a select few of the Yamanaka clan are even aware of the techniques, and even less perform it. Inoichi's devotion to the village and his personal strength of will allowed him to be the Head Interrogator for years. But…well, I suppose it was just too much. He gave up his position and Ibiki took his place."

Naruto rubbed his temples. "Our whole plan hinges on obtaining information from Kabuto, and the only way to do this is with Inoichi-san's help. Is there any way to convince him? After all, if we don't follow through with our plans then Konoha will have to go to full-blown war, and I'm sure Inoichi won't want that, right? Doesn't he have a daughter? Can't we use her as leverage?"

He knew of Ino. Quite well, in fact. They were childhood friends. And though his training mission with Jiraiya had separated the two for quite a long time, the war brought them together with the worst situation imaginable: he had been her commanding officer during those terrible months trapped in enemy territory.

The Sandaime frowned. "We may have to consider that a possibility in the future. In any case, we shall have to shelve this discussion until later. The meeting with the Council of Elders will begin shortly."

Naruto blinked, then quickly glanced out the window. He was mildly surprised to find that streaks of sunlight were already visible. It was the crack of dawn.

Nearly two hours since his promotion to a jounin of Konoha.

"So what'll you be informing them of, Sensei?" Jiraiya leaned forward. "Even though we need to move with the assumption that Orochimaru will know of our newfound knowledge concerning his invasion, there still needs to be some measure of secrecy, and informing the Council of everything would be—"

"Irresponsible, yes," interrupted the Sandaime, raising a brow. "Jiraiya, I've been handling the Council for over five decades now. I will tell them of the situation we are in but keep what I tell them to a minimum."

"And what about our plans?" the blond boy asked. "Sure we can shelve what we were just discussing until later, but you seemed at least to agree with the basic framework Ero-sennin and I presented to you. How d'you plan on handling this meeting with the old farts?"

"First things come first," said the Sandaime, and though his face expressed his disapproval of Naruto's term for the councilors, his voice held a tinge of amusement. "First, we will require a majority consensus of the Council to approve the reinstatement of the ANBU War Division — which I am certain will be passed with no complications, especially if you were there to present information yourself, Jiraiya."

"Of course," he agreed.

The Hokage nodded. "Once we have this approval, I have no doubt that Danzo and the other War Hawks on the Council will move to place someone of their own choosing as the commander of the re-established division, which will then be hotly contested by the rest of the Council."

Naruto snorted. Yes, that was how it was in his home world as well. Sure, the Hokage was the absolute authority on all matters, and yet in order to present a sense of balance, all four Hokages of Konoha had appointed the Council of Elders, consisting of the heads of the Founding Twelve Clans and three shinobi representatives, to aid and advise him in matters of village security.

Thus, it was a very interesting dynamic in which everyone knew the Hokage had the final say…and yet the Hokage still tried his best to listen to the voice of the Council.

"In order to circumvent this deadlock, I will present my own candidate for the position for the Council's approval," continued the Sandaime, "and I'm certain no one will have any problems with it."

Jiraiya grinned smugly. "They better not. If they did, I just might threaten never to write again."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Right, so they'll approve Ero-sennin's appointment as the new ANBU War Division Commander."

"Correct. At which time, Jiraiya and I will inform the Council of your promotion in rank, as well as your status as apprentice to Jiraiya." The Sandaime sighed. "No doubt there will be an uproar, but since promotions have always been within the rights of the Hokage, it will be too late for them to do anything about it. Finally, once I have determined the Council calm enough, we will further present our choice of candidate for the position as Vice-Commander of the ANBU War Division, second in authority in the division command chain."

The boy leaned back in his seat. "Do you think they'll approve?"

"Well," answered Jiraiya. "If worst comes to worst, I can just declare the appointing of the Vice-Commander position in an internal division matter, since I have full rights to instate whoever I want."

Naruto nodded. "I suppose. If they still argue, though, tell them they're free to confront me directly if they have a problem with it."

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Right, brat. You're good, I'll admit, but you're not _so_ good that you can take on the whole Council. Most of the clan heads are A-ranked shinobi themselves, you know."

The boy glowered. "Yeah, yeah. You just wait."

"Besides, like I told Sensei, I'll tell them you're the only person I trust to watch my back, and that I absolutely won't accept anyone else as my second-in-command."

Naruto's eyes watered dramatically. "I'm so touched, Ero-sennin."

Jiraiya sighed exasperatedly.

The Third cleared his throat lightly, drawing the attention of the two. "In any case, I will draw the meeting of the Council of Elders to a close afterwards. There will be no need to inform the Council of anything else. The number of squads delegated to the War Division and other strategic intelligence will be confined to the new division as a matter of course."

"Right," Naruto yawned. "Sounds great in theory, but will it be so easy in practice?" He grinned suddenly. "Then again, I won't be stuck there, eh?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Lucky brat."

"Oh?" asked the Third. "And what'll you be doing?"

The elite jounin's grin widened. "Me? Well, I've got a…uh…'survival training' with Kakashi today."

The Third frowned. "Which reminds me, I will need to reshuffle the Genin Squads to accommodate this unexpected situation. Hmm, another matter that will need to be discussed with the Council, it seems. Since you're a jounin, Naruto, you won't need to take the test."

Naruto pouted. "Fine, take away my fun."

The Sandaime sighed. "So much to do, so little time."

Once again, the boy was reminded of how very old the Third Hokage was. "Er, I'll go ahead and tell Kakashi of my promotion then. It'll take at least one thing off your plate."

"Will you, my boy? Thank you," said the Sandaime with a tired, warm smile. "You must be tired yourself. Get some rest."

"I will."

"Excellent. Well, Jiraiya, let us go and face the Council."

Naruto sniggered. "Yeah. Have fun, Ero-sennin." The white-haired Sannin swiped at the boy's head, but missed as the jounin dodged. "Bah. Ugly old farts."

Jiraiya grimaced. "Make sure you're back here by noon, brat. We'll continue our discussion then. Right, Sensei?"

"Yes. Our meeting should end by then."

"Then the ball will _really_ get rolling, huh?" muttered Naruto.

The Sandaime was silent for a moment. "Yes, yes it will."

"The ANBU War Division will be re-established with me as the commander, and—" Jiraiya gave the blond boy a victorious look, "you as the vice-commander."

Naruto breathed in deeply, feeling the familiar weight of heavy responsibility. "Then we'll have to decide for sure, whether we'll wait for Orochimaru and the Sand—"

The Sandaime nodded. "Or whether to strike first."

As the two elder shinobi left for the meeting, Naruto silently considered the distant sunrise with a pondering look on this face.

Yes. At noon, they would decide the direction the village would take…and thus the fate of the village.

To wait or to strike.

_The best defense is offense_.

If it were up to him, and soon it would be, Konoha would launch the first strike.

The blond boy opened the window, slowly breathing in the fresh morning air, and leaped out.

_Yondaime Kazekage,_ thought Namikaze Naruto grimly, _your days are numbered_.

* * *

Naruto arrived at the training grounds and looked around with a yawn. No one else was there yet. It seemed he would have to wait. Not that this fact surprised him any, of course. He certainly knew of Kakashi's tendency to come hours later than the appointed time.

"I'm tired," muttered the boy to himself. He'd had barely any rest since his fight with Kabuto, and though a single fight was not nearly enough to put a dent in his nearly supernatural stamina, his weariness had more to do with mental than physical exhaustion.

_Four hours, maybe even five_, thought the blonde. That was about how long he had until Kakashi showed up. And that was how long he had to rest his eyes a bit.

With another yawn, Naruto spotted a nice looking branch a stone's throw away from the meeting ground, and with sluggish steps, walked up the tree to the branch.

He would tell Kakashi then about his promotion to elite jounin. He couldn't wait.

And with that final thought, he allowed himself to drift off into peaceful sleep…

"Ohayo, Sasuke-kun!" A girl's sleepy voice pierced the silence only minutes later. Sakura. Naruto nearly frowned but resisted the urge, as that would break his rather tranquil mind. _Bloody loud idiot_. She sounded tired, as though she had only just woken up, but she still had the strength to muster up a happy greeting to the Uchiha.

"Hn," replied another voice with a mutter. Quietly. Thankfully.

There was a long moment of silence, and the blonde atop the tree felt himself get lulled into a doze, feeling his mind drift—

"Where's Naruto anyway?" Sakura asked. "He'd better not be sleeping in again. That idiot's going to make us fail, I swear!"

This time, the boy in question did frown. Who was she calling an idiot? He took in a deep breath and released it with a sigh. She wasn't worth his time. He was only here to deliver the Sandaime's message of his promotion. _Sleep. Sleep. _He really was tired. He just needed to ignore her. Yes. Ignore her. Sleep. His eyes were closed the entire time.

And doze he did.

He never completely entered a full sleep, of course. His consciousness was always just a hint away from full awareness. But he allowed his mind to calm, to force away thoughts of the imminent war — _shudder — _and imagined himself back home:

Lying atop the Fourth's head on the Hokage Monument, listening to the distant noise of the village below, the tranquil sound of the breeze rustling through the trees, insects buzzing quietly and birds chirping cheerfully. He remembered the feel of the sunlight on his face, that warmth, and the peace of knowing that all was well….

"Yo!" whispered a voice in ear.

**Kaze no Yaiba! **Naruto reacted without thought, his arm flashing around with a hand glowing of wind-chakra — a Shadow Clone appeared on the other side of the tree and another in the bushes below, both waiting to switch out with the original in case of danger.

Blue chakra, wind-natured, sliced through the air and shredded a large portion of the tree around him, and Naruto allowed the wind blades to escape his control to continue forth as he performed a flawless Kawarimi with his clone in the bushes.

As a startled Naruto attempted to get his ragged breathing under control and swallow the alarm to think clearly, his clones had both drawn kunai in preparation for a fight—

"Kakashi?!" both clones exclaimed.

Kakashi was clutching a hand to his chest, his visible eye wide with alarm, as he had just received the shock of his life. Had he not dodged as quickly, and had Naruto's aim not been off just slightly in his reaction, he might have been seriously injured. "Naruto?!"

And Naruto, as he lay in the bushes, exhaled sharply in disbelief at the outrageous situation. His eyes rolled and his head drooped as the fading adrenaline left him weak.

Clearly Kakashi had meant to scare him awake, thinking Naruto was but a genin and _not_ a fucking jounin. Perhaps Kakashi had expected some reaction, but clearly he was not expecting to be almost _killed_.

After all, one just did not sneak up on a jounin shinobi without a death wish. Nearly all jounin had such responses when startled awake. It was simply common sense not to tempt fate.

With two pops of smoke, his clones disappeared and Naruto crawled out from under the bush. "What the hell, Kakashi? You can't just go around waking people up like that!"

At least, thought Naruto to himself, the older man hadn't lost all his skill. The fact that he managed to sneak up on Naruto spoke well of his abilities. In fact, it was a worry for Naruto who still couldn't equate this new Kakashi to his old ero-niisan. After all, _his_ Kakashi was already an S-rank shinobi who was very close to achieving strength on par with many of the Kages, a greater legend than even the White Fang.

"Maa, what a response," replied Kakashi, slipping back into his bored voice as if the entire event didn't happen.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Bastard."

"NARUTO!" shrieked a female voice. "Don't call Sensei that!" She suddenly turned to glare at the man. "And you! YOU'RE LATE!"

Sakura again, thought Naruto with a wince. It appeared the two new genin had seen and heard the brief fight. How much of it did they observe, he wondered?

"What was that technique, Dobe?" Sasuke asked, a frown on his face. "We didn't learn it in the academy."

Three sets of eyes peered curiously at Naruto. The boy in question blinked innocently for a few seconds as an absolutely _fantastic _idea began forming in his mind.

"How do I know that technique?" he grinned evilly. The three sets of eyes narrowed.

It was his duty to inform Kakashi of his advance in rank, right? And what better way…than to show them?

"I'm an evil imposter who killed Naruto last night and am taking his place!" Naruto gave them his best smile. "And I'm here to kill you all!" He gave his best impression of an evil laugh: "Ku ku ku!"

There was a stunned moment of silence. In the distance, a cricket could be heard. Wind blew through the silent clearing.

Kakashi sighed. Sakura's face went red. Sasuke glared.

"What?" asked Naruto innocently. "Don't believe me?" His hands suddenly flashed together — Kakashi looked concerned — and in one moment formed a dozen handseals. "Too bad. **Fuuton: Diatoppa**."

Wind exploded.

* * *

"_What's happened to Kakashi?" Naruto asked quietly._

_Jiraiya looked up with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean?"_

"_He looks... unmotivated. Lifeless. Bored?"_

"_Hmm," replied the man pensively, "it's not something that can be answered easily."_

"_Well," pursued Naruto crossly, "what happened to Rin? Are they not together?"_

"_Oho, Rin and Kakashi, eh? I suppose things could have worked out between them, yes. That's certainly interesting."_

"_So they're not together then?"_

"_Well, Rin has been missing for twelve years now. Declared missing-in-action right after the Kyuubi attack, in fact...."_

* * *

Naruto watched, keeping his face blank, as Sakura and Sasuke were sent tumbling through the air. Kakashi had his arms crossed in front of him, obviously sticking to the ground with chakra, and the man's eyes flashed dangerously at the blonde.

The boy in turn cocked his head dispassionately, not showing a single expression.

Kakashi disappeared and, even through the torrent of wind, managed to navigate first to Sakura and Sasuke, catching them in midair to prevent them from serious injury. He landed them safely just as the wind technique finally lost its strength and dwindled away.

"Who are you?" Kakashi's voice was cold, harsh, serious. He held himself in front of the two genin, who both looked rather disoriented. He had his arms out protectively before them.

"I do hate repeating myself. I'm an imposter. Deal with it." Then Naruto faded away—

—and appeared behind Kakashi, whose eyes widened, spinning around to find Naruto with a kunai in each hand and reaching for the two genin. Kakashi struck first, his speed almost untraceable as his hands flashed and shoved both genin away, thrusting them off in opposite directions.

Naruto quickly dodged as Kakashi shifted to strike the blonde, and the boy formed a hand seal.

Two Kage Bunshin appeared in midair, speeding towards where Sakura and Sasuke were attempting to rise.

"Watch out!" roared Kakashi, even as he to duck underneath a kunai slash, but neither genin were fast enough to avoid the Shadow Clones.

"You've really lost your touch, Kakashi. And now, say goodbye to your genin," drawled Naruto, attempting to keep from panting too heavily.

The clones each effortlessly subdued the genin and held kunai to their throats.

Kakashi froze. His eyes darted from Sasuke to Sakura, then to the supposed imposter standing across from him.

"The legendary Copy-nin. Pity. I expected far, far more." Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps it's because I have the advantage of hostages. Very well. Let's see what you're really capable of, Hatake Kakashi." He gave a nod to the Shadow Clones who both used the blunt end of the kunai to knock out the genin.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "Who are you really?"

"Well, if you really want to know, you're going to have to come at me with the intent to kill. Maybe then I'll tell you."

Kakashi gave him a long considering look before seemingly making up his mind.

His hand rose up, pushing up his headband, and revealed the hidden Sharingan.

Naruto didn't react, even as a shiver crawled up his spine.

God, how he hated that damn bloodline limit.

* * *

"_Missing? What?"_

_Jiraiya looked irritated. "She was just gone. Disappeared. No one knows where. Maybe she died. Maybe she's still alive but couldn't deal with everyone's deaths. You know both she and Kakashi saw the Fourth as their surrogate father. And Kushina, she was every bit the mother and friend they wanted. With both of them gone, and so suddenly — well, most people just assumed she gave up the shinobi life and left."_

"_Kakashi didn't take it well, did he? Without Father or even Rin to turn to..."_

"_Yeah, I suppose you could say that. He entered himself into the ANBU Black Ops immediately afterwards. I rarely saw him. He threw himself into quite a destructive lifestyle. He became a legend, sure, but only at the expense of his humanity. It wasn't until just three years ago that Sensei finally pulled Kakashi out of ANBU."_

"_That must have been terrible for him."_

"_It was very bad, not just for him, but for everyone. You have to understand, Naruto, that Minato was like…like the bringer of a new age. He was to bring a golden age for us all, a time of true peace. For him to die like that, so early, so quickly, was a shock to everyone. After all, he was the Hokage of the greatest shinobi village, a village that withstood three Great Shinobi Wars and came out on top of each, a village that not only defeated the odds but prospered in the midst of crises. The Kyuubi destroyed all that in one fell swoop."_

"_Hmm...."_

"_You asked me what was wrong with Kakashi? Well, it's simple, really. He had nothing left to live for, and still doesn't. And without such motivation, well, he's grown stagnate. He hasn't grown."_

"_He hasn't grown?"_

"_He's still only A-rank," explained Jiraiya. "After all, with the phenomenal growth potential both your father and I saw in him at first, he's been a... disappointment, I suppose you could say. Not many geniuses, even prodigies, can claim to have been promoted to jounin by thirteen. But of all who have, every single one has become at least an S-rank shinobi by the time they reached twenty."_

"_Yeah, I guess. Kakashi's an S-rank shinobi back in my world. He's been ranked as such for a long time."_

"_Exactly my point. In your world, he had the motivation, and he had a teacher willing to help him advance. Here, he has nothing."_

* * *

Naruto formed a dozen handseals and gathered wind that howled in his hands. He tightened his control, leashed the convulsing torrent, and held out before him a whip of pure screaming wind. He swung and the whip lashed forward, gouging out the ground as he sprang ahead.

Kakashi was already moving, his own hands twisting out. He took a deep breath and began spitting out balls of tightly honed fire. **Katon: Housenka no Justu.** He clearly expected to use the flames to defeat the chord of wind.

The blond grinned even as the wind whip exploded into a whirlwind of fire, the techniques erupting out of control.

He dropped low to the ground as shuriken exploded out from the middle of the flames and spun passed him, few inches to spare from his head. He attempted to draw his own shuriken—

But Kakashi was too fast, and before Naruto had the chance to throw, the man was on him with his Sharingan spinning. The blonde hastily jumped backwards, giving himself spare moments to draw his kunai even as Kakashi sprang forward. Naruto barely managed to block a heavy downward strike, but completely missed Kakashi's leg thrusting at his open form. He grunted as Kakashi landed a spinning kick firmly on his chest.

_Jiraiya wasn't lying_, thought Naruto grimly as he skid along the ground. Kakashi had already leaped forward to deliver another solid kick. _My Kakashi would have had me knocked out within moments. This one is only _barely _defeating me_.

Naruto abruptly allowed chakra to expel from his feet and jar to a complete stop before expelling even more to suddenly jump towards Kakashi. The older jounin was already reacting, most likely having predicted the movement with his eye, but wasn't fast enough to cleanly avoid Naruto's slash of the kunai. Wind chakra extended the length of the blade just enough to draw a thin line of blood on Kakashi's left arm.

But before Naruto had a chance to enjoy his draw of first blood, Kakashi had himself copied the blonde's technique of sticking abruptly to the ground to change momentum and direction. With an unreal sudden twist, Kakashi had himself positioned behind Naruto and lashed out with a chakra-enhanced kick that landed a solid strike at the back of Naruto's head.

Naruto felt his sight blur for a split moment, bright stars clouding his vision even as pain immobilized him for the briefest instant. He flew out of the clearing and crashed into a tree, groaning.

That hurt. A fucking lot.

He blearily looked up to find Kakashi strolling up to where Naruto was currently sitting. The older jounin's Sharingan eye still spun. He emitted a heavy killing intent that would have completely stopped any genin, or even chuunin, for that matter.

Naruto sighed. Perhaps he really did have to get serious as well.

* * *

"_He was like my older brother, you know?" Naruto said quietly. "And it's really…really annoying to see him like that. Lifeless. It's just…really…annoying."_

_Jiraiya gave him a knowing look. "You could change that, you know?"_

_Naruto looked at him questioningly._

"_You could give him something to live for. A new motivation."_

"_How could I give that to him?"_

"_Well, you're Namikaze Naruto, and he doesn't quite know, or rather he isn't willing to accept the reality, that you are the Fourth's son."_

"_You want me to make myself the reason for his motivation."_

"_Well, why not?"_

* * *

Naruto slowly pushed himself to stand. He squared his shoulders and faced the coming jounin. He allowed his chakra to spin around, washing away his weakness and weariness.

It was time to give Kakashi a new motivation.

He disappeared from view.

Kakashi's Sharingan eye widened. He couldn't track the blonde.

Suddenly a foot filled his vision. Kakashi head whipped back as Naruto's strike missed, but the older jounin was unable to avoid a follow-up thrust from Naruto's right fist.

The silver-head man grunted as air was forcefully expelled from his lungs. He reacted quickly however, unwilling to let his lack of air immobilize him, and swung a kunai down at the blonde—

But the blonde was gone in the next instant, and a large shadow fell over Kakashi. His Sharingan spinning, he glanced up sharply to find Naruto rushing through another dozen handseals before—

There was a roar of wind as a raging _dragon_ coalesced from hurricane streams of air. Kakashi desperately threw himself into the ground with a short handseal sequence, sinking through as deeply he could to escape the wind dragon.

The explosion as the dragon dug into the earth was loud. And concussive. And purely _destructive._

Kakashi grit his teeth, feeling completely amazed by the terror of that wind dragon. It was simply unbelievable.

Then the chakra dissipated.

Naruto, on the ground below the tree on which he had been resting just a scant fifteen minutes before, watched grimly. The smoke was too heavy to see into. He waited with bated breath. Surely Kakashi had escaped that, right?

Surely....

Suddenly Naruto felt a stab of worry. He didn't kill the man, did he?

Wait, was that chakra building up in the middle of the smoke?

"**Raikiri.**"

Naruto's eyes widened with terror.

Then he heard the noise. The sharp crackling of lightning: the horrendous power of the Raikiri.

Kakashi was suddenly visible. Inside his hand he held a roar of destructive power.

He blurred forward, the lightning gouging a groove into the ground as Kakashi raced towards the blonde. His Sharingan spun and focused on his enemy.

Naruto felt his mouth dry in the face of his death. He knew he had no time. No time to dodge. To move away. There was only one choice—

And an split instant before Kakashi's hand drove into Naruto's chest, the legendary lightning blade slammed to a stop before a glowing, spinning ball of chakra.

"**Rasengan**," murmured Naruto quietly under the strain.

"Impossible!" Kakashi exhaled sharply.

Naruto could only just hear Kakashi above the roar as crackling lightning met the whine of pure chakra spinning.

Naruto met Kakashi's gaze and stared into the Sharingan eye.

"Not a genjutsu," muttered Kakashi. And for the first time, Kakashi _really_ took a look at Naruto. "You're not in **Henge**. I see no seals apart from the one for Kyuubi. You're not an imposter."

Naruto grinned, gritting his teeth, as the partially-formed Rasengan struggled to keep back the Raikiri. "Took you long enough, Kakashi. I thought you'd have recognized that I'm really Naruto the moment you revealed the Sharingan."

"There are ways to fool the Sharingan. I assumed..."

Naruto almost groaned under the pressure from the lightning blade. "Would you mind releasing the Raikiri, then?"

Kakashi suddenly seemed to snap back to reality and realized he was still pushing the deadly lightning blade forward. He quickly stepped back, allowing the chakra to dissipate. "Who are you really? How do you know the Rasengan?"

Naruto released his breath in a long sigh as he allowed the Rasengan to dissipate. He wiped the sweat on his brow. Even Kabuto hadn't given him a workout like this. He dropped onto the ground from weariness. He really was _tired_.

But no, he couldn't rest yet. He had to put in the final nail to this entire act. He had to give Kakashi a new reason to live. He owed it to the man who had, in his own world, been like Naruto's older brother.

And so with a deep breath, he began his drama:

"Like you'd care," snapped Naruto with a glare. "You _never_ cared."

Kakashi looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing. Just go away."

"Wait, what are you talking about? I will not leave until I get a satisfying answer. Where did you learn to fight like that? Why did you try to kill me and your teammates? _What is the meaning of this?_"

Naruto glared at the ground. He answered after a moment: "Jiraiya. He taught me everything."

Kakashi's eyes widened. "Jiraiya-sama? What – when?"

"He's been teaching me for the past four years. Teaching me like _you _were supposed to do."

The silver-haired man flinched. "What?"

Naruto suddenly looked up and glared even more fiercely. "He told me, all right? Ero-sennin told me everything. You were my father's student! You were supposed to take care of me in case no one else could!"

"Wait, your father—?"

"Don't tell me you didn't know the Fourth was my father!"

Kakashi exhaled sharply. "I—"

"And you never visited me. You never checked up on me. I know. Jiraiya told me!"

"Naruto, I—"

"Jiraiya told me how the Fourth was like a father to you. When he first told me, I wanted to meet you so badly. I wanted to hear stories of my father from you. But you never, ever did. You never cared. And even when we met yesterday, I thought you'd finally start something. But you just ignored me."

"Naruto—"

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore. I don't need you. I got promoted. I'm officially Ero-sennin's apprentice now, and an official jounin, too. The Third promoted me himself last night. So I don't need you or this team."

"You — a jounin?!"

"Yeah. And you want to know why I started this all? It's because I'd promised I'd beat you up for my father. I know he'd be disappointed in you. And I promised him I'd beat some sense into you. Well, I did what I promised."

Naruto stood up abruptly and walked away towards where the two genin lay unconscious and far from the battle that had just taken place. He left Kakashi standing there silently and knew that the man was observing him. He felt the heavy gaze on his back. But he forced himself to ignore it.

_I hope I didn't overdo it_, thought the blonde with a grimace.

Gently holding up Sakura's head, he lightly dangled a smelling salt. She jerked awake, automatically pushing the salt from her nose. She had the most adorable confused look on her face.

Naruto grinned down at her. "Good afternoon, Sakura."

"Naruto?" She rubbed her eyes. "What happened? Did I fall asleep? I had the weirdest dream."

"Yeah. I think Kakashi cast a genjutsu on all of us. Made us think the most bizarre things had happened."

Sakura nodded, before suddenly realizing that it was _Naruto_'s lap that she was in, and scrambled back. "PERVERT!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and glanced over to where Sasuke lay unconscious.

"Oh, _Sasuke-kun!_ Kakashi-sensei must have gotten him too!"

With an evil grin, Naruto gave his smelling salt to her. "Take it and wake him up for me, Sakura."

As Sakura squealed and complied, Naruto took the chance to glance back at Kakashi. The man was still staring at him. With a sigh, the blonde turned away to watch as Sasuke struggled to push himself free of Sakura.

"What happened here?" Sasuke's eyes were wide with alarm as he took in the massive damage done to the training grounds. Sakura gasped as well, finally noticing her surroundings.

Naruto opened his mouth to answer, but another voice answered in his stead: "Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Sasuke. It seems our survival training is over for today, at least."

"Wait, what?!" shouted Sakura.

Kakashi had appeared in their midst. His forehead protector was already slanted over his Sharingan eye, and his visible one was clearly crinkled to match his covered smile. "Well, it seems Naruto here will no longer be on our team, so you'll have to wait to get a third teammate."

Sakura seemed about to burst with new questions, but Kakashi continued. "Now, why don't the two of you go home and rest? I'll speak to the Hokage about this and a message will be sent soon. Naruto, we need to talk."

Naruto reluctantly nodded, and allowed Kakashi to place a hand on his shoulder as the older jounin performed _Shunshin_.

As they disappeared, he heard Sakura turn to Sasuke and ask, "What do you think happened to Naruto? Why isn't he on our team anymore?"

And he just managed to hear Sasuke reply, "Probably being sent back to the Academy..."

When the two jounin finally stopped moving, Naruto realized they hadn't gone far from the clearing at all. In fact, it was just behind a row of trees from the training grounds. The boy rolled his eyes. He didn't understand why Kakashi felt the need to _Shunshin_ to such a short distance.

"What exactly do you mean you've been promoted to jounin, Naruto?" Kakashi leaned against a tree, and Naruto copied him by leaning against one directly the opposite.

"Exactly what I said. He decided my skills were far above Genin-level and promoted me."

Kakashi frowned. "While promotions are within the Hokage's right, he's never exercised his authority outside of times of war—" He looked up sharply. "Jiraiya, you said?"

_A genius_, thought Naruto. The man certainly was. "Yep. Ero-sennin's back in the village."

"Do you know what he's here for?"

Naruto allowed a serious look to flow onto his face. "Yeah, I do. He's here to head up the new ANBU Division, or should I say, the reinstated ANBU Division?"

Realization struck and Kakashi's visible eye sharpened. "The War Division!"

"Look, I'm not allowed to confirm anything. But things are looking pretty bad. That's why the Hokage promoted me after I showed him my skills."

There was a long moment of silence as each became lost in his own thoughts.

Finally, with a sigh, Kakashi began, "Look, Naruto, I'm sorry—"

"No," Naruto shook his head.

Kakashi frowned. "No?"

"I'm not that easy. I'm not going to forgive you. Not just because you said you were sorry. That's not good enough."

"Oh?"

"I can understand some of it, okay? I know it's not totally your fault. But I can't forget the fact that you ignored me for my whole life, and that's not just gonna disappear because you're _sorry_."

Blue eyes met black.

Naruto suddenly grinned. "But you _can_ make it up to me. Prove to me you mean it. That you're sorry. If you make that your goal, maybe someday I will forgive you. Prove to me you haven't forgotten everything my father's taught you, that you still have the will of Fire, that you still love his village, and that you'll be there for me when I need you."

The blonde pushed off the tree and stood. "Then I'll forgive you." He formed a hand seal. "Until that time... see ya, Ero-niisan."

There was a puff of smoke and Naruto disappeared.

Kakashi stared, silent and still, at the spot where his sensei's son had been standing. A slow, genuine smile stretched across his face.

_You really are something, Naruto. _Kakashi formed a seal and disappeared in the same manner as Naruto had just moments before. _Ah, Sensei, you'd be proud of him_.

* * *

_  
__**To be continued...**_

_ANBU ARC Part Three: __Courage To Be Hokage__ will be updated very soon_, _but reviews really help encourage me to write! So take the hint, spend a minute, and _review! _As I've said before, I honestly appreciate each and every review you make, even the one-worded ones. Reviews really show me that you've taken precious time out of your schedule to comment on my fic--and there's nothing more an author can ask._

* * *

**Technique Translations:**

1. Kaze no Yaiba -- Wind Blade -- _a very low-ranked technique that requires basic mastery of wind-element chakra manipulation and can in fact be used inefficiently without handseals_.  
3. Katon: Housenka no Jutsu -- Mythical Fire Phoenix Technique -- _an A-rank technique that shoots out small dense balls of fire._  
4. Raikiri -- Lightning Blade -- _an S-rank variation to the A-rank Chidori, a very powerful lightning technique_

* * *

**End Notes:**

Well. It's definitely been a long while. I had a long and difficult semester. But it ended finally, as all things tend to do, and I found myself with the time and energy to write once again. So, here we are! The next chapter of AD:PRV.

This chapter was important as it sets things in motion for the rest of the plot. Hopefully, the conflict and interaction between Kakashi and Naruto was believeable.

I'm currently trying to find the time to write more chapters during this vacation. We'll see if I can keep updating chapters. My profile has a running "progress status" where I'll be able to show you all exactly how far I've gone.

But rest assured that I am not going to give up on this fic. ^^ **A late Happy Christmass and a great New Year's to you all!**

Thanks for reading.

Please, once again, review! Tell me what you think! I really appreciate any and all feedback.

Comments always welcome.

-- _liath_


	8. ANBU ARC 03: Courage To Be Hokage

* * *

_**AN**__sastsu Senjutsu Tokushu __**BU**__tai Arc_  
**Part III: Courage To Be Hokage**

_by Taliath_

* * *

The sun was just passing its zenith as Naruto sped across Konoha. He had returned home to find a change of clothes and take a quick shower, something he needed badly. A half-hour later, fresh from a wash and in a new crisp outfit, Naruto set off—

Oh, and yes. He had his jounin vest on.

Proudly, he might add. And rightfully so. It really had taken him a lot of time, sweat, blood, and tears to gain his position. He wasn't planning on hiding his promotion at all.

And so with a happy mood, the blond jounin headed towards the Hokage's office for his overdue meeting with the Third and Jiraiya. Several hours had passed since dawn, seeing as it was just past noon, and the council meeting should have been completed quite a bit ago.

"Naruto?!"

The blonde twisted in midair, his legs kicking up into the sky as his head tilted down towards the ground and observed a wide-eyed Iruka staring at him. With a grin and a lazy salute, the boy allowed his momentum to continue twisting his body around, and continued forward with a shout, "Iruka-sensei! I told you I was awesome!"

Then he was out of sight, the jump carrying him past the street where Iruka had been and towards to Hokage Tower.

Several minutes later, he finally landed lightly on the window into the office and, crouching low, he peered inside, squinting past the glare.

It was empty.

The boy scratched the back of his head with a confused look. Where were they? Could it be that the council meeting had not yet finished? Naruto chuckled at that. Poor Jiraiya. The man absolutely hated things like that. The formalities, the boring old farts talking in circles…

Rising to stand with his feet sticking to the window, his body held out from the tower horizontally, Naruto slowly considered the vast array of buildings laid out before him. Konoha was truly a massive village. Not really a village at all, really. It was a city, by all rights.

He pondered his situation for several long moments, unsure of what to do with the free time on his hands. He supposed he could just wait in the office for the Third and Jiraiya to finish, but he didn't want to be cooped up all alone. That would just be boring. Besides, there was no way to know when the meeting might end.

With a sigh, he allowed the chakra holding himself to the tower push him away, and with a lazy roll landed lightly on the ground. Hands in his pockets, a bored look on his face, Naruto decided to mingle, to venture amongst the villagers of his most favorite village.

It was about time he directed his attention to the attitudes of the villagers. After all, it couldn't be that _everyone_ hated him, right?

And so with a nonchalant whistle, the blue-eyed boy began wandering the streets. He nodded cheerfully to everyone he recognized, though he was highly amused by the rather repetitive reactions of those he met. Most would first see the flak jacket, recognizing its symbol of authority, and feel honored as they attempted to match a face to the jacket. Then the eyes would squint as if in disbelief before widening in shock. Naruto just grinned.

Of course there were other ninja in the midst of the villagers, and none of them quite managed to hide their surprise at seeing his vest. All in all, it made for serious fun on Naruto's part.

"Hey, Jurobo-san. How're you doing today?" The man in question blinked at him blankly in response.

Naruto skipped along without missing a beat, continuing to whistle his tune, as he interacted with the villagers. And though he saw many alter their paths away from him, observed some look at him with suspicion, and noticed the shinobi who tensed in his presence, he noted above all that there _were_ some who didn't flinch. There _were_ some who simply let him be. Ignored him. Or at least just stared blankly.

And that gave him hope.

After all, he had all but sent his counterpart to hell. The least he could do was try to alleviate the heavy hatred that seeped into the minds of the people—

No. There was a rather selfish reason beyond that as well, Naruto could admit to himself. Simply put: this was his chance to see if he _could_ make a difference. It was a chance to see if being a container for the demon defined him, or whether he could define himself to the people of Konoha.

He knew it wouldn't, and couldn't, be done in a short amount of time. It would take ages to change the animosity directed against himself by the village mind, that hive-like mindset that drove the villagers.

But it was a start. And he was more than willing to begin the process.

He refused to believe they would hate him forever. He _refused_ to believe it. He had seen the best of the villagers, and now he was beginning to feel some of the worst. But there just had to be a way to bridge the two and at least find a middle ground.

And thus he swore as he tried to mingle with the villagers. He swore he'd change their mind once and for all, eventually.

He smiled _kindly_ to those who were at least willing to notice him. He was _polite_ to ninja who he met – he was a superior officer now. He was _courteous_ to those who avoided him. And he was downright _respectful_ to those who sneered at him and glared.

He wouldn't let them get to him. No matter what.

And so when he recognized a childhood friend, a person his age, Naruto brightened immensely. "Hey, Ino! Ino!"

The girl in question, about to enter her family flower store, paused and turned in search of the voice that called out to her. But instead of a smile blooming in response as the new jounin might have expected, the blonde-haired girl instead showed a frown crossed with an annoyed look.

Naruto strolled up to her, a hand scratching the back of his head, and he grinned even as the sinking feeling in his stomach grew. Were they not friends here or something?

"Naruto?" Ino asked, confusion clear in her voice. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you with your team?" Suddenly Ino's eyes brightened. "Are you on a mission already? Is Sasuke-kun nearby?" She stood on her toes, peering around the crowded street in obvious hopes of seeing her crush.

The boy in turn felt dismay and disappointment coil up in the pit of his stomach. They obviously weren't close friends. With a forced smile, Naruto answered, "Nope! Kakashi-sensei let us off early. And besides, I'm no longer part of Team Seven."

Ino glanced down sharply to face him at that. "Did the sensei kick you off or something? Ooh, that means there's a position available." Ino continued mumbling to herself, though Naruto heard quite clearly. "I wonder if I could get Dad to put in a word for me. If I could get transferred to Team Seven, then I won't have to deal with that stupid _troublesome_ Shika—"

"Ino? Ino? …Ino!"

The girl blinked, jarred out of her daydreams, before glaring at the boy who so rudely interrupted her thoughts. She growled. "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt a lady in her important thoughts? Why are you here anyway?"

Naruto pouted. This was the Ino he remembered! "Aw, come on Ino. 'Important thoughts' my arse. You were daydreaming, admit it! And anyways, I wasn't kicked off Team Seven. Don't you notice anything different?" Here Naruto paused to blatantly wave at his jounin vest.

Ino's eye twitched. "Naruto. You're going to get into so much trouble for that. No wonder you got kicked off your team. You're can't go around wearing a vest like that! Where did you steal it from?!"

"No way! I totally earned this vest! I was promoted last night!"

"Stop lying, idiot!"

"I'm not lying!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Yes, I am!"

"No—" Ino paused with a triumphant grin. "You can't get me like that! Oldest trick in the book!"

Naruto's pout became more pronounced. "Ha! At least I got you to play that with me."

Then Ino's eyes widened with shock as she realized that she had indeed lowered herself to participate in such a childish act.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Anyways, aren't you gonna let me in? I got a couple new ideas I want to bounce off you." And with that, Naruto squeezed past the girl into the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

Nothing had changed. It was exactly the same as in his world. Perfect.

Ino finally seemed to pull herself together as she slammed the door behind her. "Naruto! I swear just talking to you makes my IQ drop."

"Meh. You'll just suck up someone else's IQ soon enough with your weird mind techniques anyhow," dismissed Naruto, ignoring the girl's outraged look. "Right. So I was thinking of a new hybrid variant that crosses the Founder's Slipper herb with the Cheddar Pink flower. That would totally solve the problem with the Slipper's need for ridiculously specific and controlled environmental factors, don't you think? I know crosses with the Slipper are rarely successful, but I think it'll work in this case since Cheddar Pink has—"

Ino was staring with an open mouth as she listened to Naruto. It actually sounded as if he knew what he was talking about.

"—and then if that works out, we'll have a much more reliable supply of the powerful antitoxin properties of the Slipper herb. And I was hoping to get some seedlings for the Spring Gentian, if you have any." Naruto frowned, completely missing Ino's confused gaze. Did he even still have his garden? Did his counterpart ever take to it? What if his garden wasn't there anymore? "I might need to get a full starter's package too, come to think of it."

He hoped his counterpart had shared in his love for gardening. It was a pastime that brought much needed peace and quiet to his otherwise crazy life. He had had a small corner of the area behind the Hokage Tower to himself, a small plot for his own pleasure. He'd better check it out to see if his counterpart had done the same thing.

And if not, well, he supposed he could start over again. Not a bad thing, to think of it now, actually. Perhaps he could implement some of the things he had thought about but couldn't due to having already started. Now, starting fresh, might give him that chance—

"What are you talking about?" interrupted Ino. She was staring at him with a confounded look on her face, though there was a strong hint of curiosity tingeing her tone of voice. "Do you really know what you're talking about?"

Naruto raised a brow in question. "You didn't know, Ino? I love gardening. It's my hobby!" He smiled at her.

She blinked.

He scratched the back of his head. They really weren't close at all, he concluded rather sadly. "Um. I guess you didn't know. Well, I do love gardening! And I even have this small garden I've been working on. And that's why I said I wanted to bounce some of my ideas off of you. You know, because you probably know better than most people about plants. Way more than me."

Was that a slight reddish tinge in her cheeks?

Ino replied thoughtfully, "I never knew that. So you really like flowers?"

"Yup," confirmed Naruto with a nod. "Ever since I was young. Gardening is fun. And it's quiet. It gives me time to think and just be, you know?"

The girl found herself nodding. "I know." It was clear she didn't quite understand how to handle the situation. After all, in her defense, she had just seen the apparent idiot of the class show interest in her area of expertise. And she herself _loved _plants. She _loved_ her family's Flower Shop.

And most importantly, she felt a large portion of her annoyance for the blond boy before her evaporate at the sign of genuine interest in all things gardening.

It was, after all, human nature to connect best over areas of mutual interest.

Naruto gave her a hopeful look and asked quietly, "So d'you want to help me out with my new project?"

She _did_ hesitate, just for a moment, but her objections faded away as her eyes met the _genuine_ blue of her peer. She nodded with a small smile and replied with a short, but softly-spoken word. "Sure."

* * *

Barely a half-hour later found Naruto working with Ino around the shop. He had sent a shadow clone to check out the site behind the Hokage Tower, but found it wasn't developed at all. Obviously the Naruto of this world had either not taken to gardening or used a different spot. In any case, the clone had created more clones and begun clearing a small space for himself to use.

The real Naruto, on the other hand, was making small talk with Ino. They had first tossed ideas back and forth about creating the hybrid, before moving on to talk about a rather wide range of topics.

It was clear that Ino at times forgot it was _Naruto_ she was talking to, as he easily saw her eyes widen at times as she realized yet again it was indeed the blond boy. And though Naruto explained to her how he had gotten the right to wear the vest quite legitimately – that he was indeed a jounin now and the apprentice to the legendary Jiraiya – she absolutely refused to believe him.

But all in all, there was nothing like bonding over a plot of fragrant fertilizer to restart a friendship, mused the blond boy. He imagined himself back in his world, spending time working with Ino on his garden, and felt a sudden pang of homesickness wash over him. With a sigh, he shook his head in an attempt to clear away the feeling.

"—so I told Shikamaru I'd make sure the rest of his life would be _miserable_ if he didn't get off his butt and start working. He finally thought up a strategy that worked. And so Asuma-sensei let us pass!"

"That's awesome. I'm not sure how my team would've done if we really did do our test. Kakashi-sensei loves to do something called a bell test. Probably would've ended up in a complete mess, honestly. I get the feeling none of us actually work well with each other."

Ino nodded. "Yeah. Seriously, I don't know what Iruka-sensei was thinking, putting the three of you together."

"Actually," said Naruto, "it's not Iruka-sensei who sets the teams together. He _does_ make recommendations, but it's a jounin appointed by the Hokage who has to do the job, and then the Hokage signs off on it."

"Really?" Ino asked. "How'd you know that?"

"I told you! I'm a jounin now! I know these kinds of things," declared the boy smugly.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Still not believing it. Honestly, do you really think you could become a jounin before Sasuke-kun?" Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but the girl continued without letting him speak. "And _don't_ go yelling about being the apprentice to Jiraiya-sama! I'm not buying it!"

Before Naruto had a chance to argue, however, another voice answered in his stead: a deep tone, smooth with authority and control replied, "Ino-chan. You should never dismiss any claim out of hand. You should know better than to make assumptions about people."

Naruto glanced up sharply to find Yamanaka Inoichi standing less than a meter from where Ino and he had been working. Of course, the two had been working at a portion of the shop that was far from the entrance, so it was possible they hadn't heard the man enter the shop. But it was surprising the man had managed to get so close without triggering any warning signals in the blond boy.

But then again, Yamanaka Inoichi was an A-rank shinobi himself. He was retired from field missions.

"Dad!" Ino leaped up to give her father a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"The meeting's ended early so I came right on over," replied Inoichi with a chuckle. "I wanted to congratulate my daughter in passing Asuma-san's exam."

Ino grinned.

Naruto stepped forward. "Good afternoon, Yamanaka-san. My name is—"

"Uzumaki Naruto," finished Inoichi with a steady gaze. "You were the main focus of our council meeting today."

The blond jounin met the gaze of the clan head firmly. "I'm honored the council would spend so much time looking out for my wellbeing."

Ino glanced in confusion from Naruto to her father, sensing the sudden shift in mood. "Dad? What are you talking about?"

Inoichi gave her a small smile. "It seems Naruto-san here has indeed been promoted to jounin rank and is the confirmed apprentice to Jiraiya-sama."

"What?!" shouted Ino. She pointed at Naruto. "You mean he was telling the truth!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I told you like a million times but you didn't believe me."

"But, but…_Naruto_? A _jounin_?"

Inoichi just pat her on the head. "There, there, Ino. Hokage-sama himself gave Naruto his promotion." The man's eyes narrowed the slightest amount. "But why don't you go look for your mother? I'm sure she'd like to know you've passed your latest exam and my council meeting is over."

Ino snapped her fingers. "That's right! I forgot to tell mom. I better go do that now!" She suddenly realized the blond boy was still there, apparent as she bit her lip with hesitance. "Um, Naruto—"

"Don't worry about Naruto," interrupted Inoichi. The man didn't even glance at the boy. "I have something to discuss with him."

Ino frowned, and glanced at her peer. The boy nodded encouragingly. She finally nodded. "All right. I guess I'll be going then…" She could clearly sense a dismissal.

"See ya' later, Ino." Naruto waved goodbye, before turning to face the pensive Inoichi. "Do you want to talk here?"

Inoichi glanced at the boy before shaking his head. "No. Let's head over to my office. It's at the back."

And so the two silently headed clear of the flower shop towards the private area behind it. Inoichi opened a thick, sturdy door and with a gesture, waved Naruto inside. The boy didn't change his pace as he calmly entered the room.

The room was homely. It was clean, yet showed signs of use. There was a large table wherein a mess of scrolls and papers showed it as Inoichi's workplace. File cabinets and shelves lined the walls. Pictures of Inoichi's immediate family decorated the office. And at the far end of the space were comfortable-looking couches arrayed in two rows with a small tea table set in the middle. Soft light illuminated the room at the four corners, and a lamp by the desk provided more than enough light to work comfortably without straining the eyes. All in all, it was the kind of welcoming office Naruto dreamed of having someday.

The door closed behind him, and all sound abruptly disappeared.

The room was clearly sealed tight.

Without glancing at the man behind him, Naruto didn't allow any emotion to show either in his face or in his body language. Seemingly unconcerned with the sudden stillness or the rising tension, the blond boy lazily approached not the table and the chairs before it, but rather the couches that sat at the far end.

His mind was already furiously at work. He remembered their short encounter just outside in the shop. He examined every angle of their brief conversation, noted the facial expressions and the changing body language, the tone of voice as the man spoke of the council and the boy. Naruto's thoughts spun as he tried to infer exactly what the man wanted of him.

Clearly there had been long discussions about him during the council meetings. Most likely it involved far more opposition to both his promotion to jounin and appointment to the War Division than the Third had expected. What did Inoichi want? Why did the man bring the boy into his office? What exactly happened during that meeting?

Naruto didn't allow himself to frown, but he felt frustration well up. Maybe he really should have just waited in the Hokage's office.

"This is a very nice office, Yamanaka-san," Naruto complimented, just as Inoichi was taking his seat in the couch directly facing him.

"Inoichi. Inoichi will be fine. And thank you."

Naruto nodded. "Inoichi, then." There a moment of silence. The blond boy continued: "Is there something specific you wanted to talk to me about?"

Inoichi glanced at Naruto and met his gaze. "I assume you know everything that went on in the council meeting."

"I knew what was going to happen," confirmed Naruto with a short nod. "I have to meet with Ero-sennin to get the details, but I knew beforehand what was going to be bought up."

"I see," mused Inoichi, his tone giving no hint as to his thoughts.

Naruto had to remind himself that this man was a _master_ actor and _very_ knowledgeable in human psychology. It was very clear in the way the boy just could _not_ get a reading off of the man. Inoichi was like a brick wall. Nothing to detect, no unconscious twitches or motions that revealed thoughts; the head of the Yamanaka clan gave away nothing, and that made Naruto more nervous than he would've imagined.

Inoichi rubbed his chin. "Naruto. I have to admit I was shocked when Jiraiya-sama announced you've been his apprentice for years now, and that you're his choice as second-in-command of the War Division."

Naruto nodded. "No one was supposed to know, but he felt the time was right to reveal my training to the Hokage."

Inoichi gave him a gentle laugh, raising his hands. "I'm not questioning anything, just commenting on my astonishment. It's not every day I get to see a legend in the making."

_Liar. _The boy smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. He had a part to play. _You are curious by nature, Inoichi. I know you better than you think._

"Well," said Inoichi, his face and body language nothing if not welcoming. It made a cold shiver crawl down Naruto's spine. The man continued, "I do have to wonder, though. I know the Council's opinion. I know Jiraiya-sama and obviously Hokage-sama believe you are ready. But do you think you yourself are ready for such a position?"

_What was the man trying to get at?_ wondered the blond boy. Naruto allowed his smile to dissipate. His eyes sharpened, the boyish exuberance fading away, and he allowed a steady serious expression take over.

"Can anyone ever be ready?" continued Inoichi when Naruto didn't respond. His eyes narrowed. "Are you able to make that pivotal decision? Do you have the courage to make life-and-death calls outside of fights? It's different, you know. It's one thing to make such a decision in the heat of battle, but to make the call with no regrets outside of that, to decide on the fate of others in the safety of the village, is not _at all_ the same." The man radiated genuine concern. "Are you ready, Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto felt confused for a moment. This was not at all an approach he thought the man would use. The concerned adult? That was unexpected. But nevertheless, the blond jounin firmly met Inoichi's innocently questioning eyes. "I'm ready."

Inoichi leaned back into the couch. "Are you?" It was spoken in a soft voice. Not maliciously. Not suspiciously. But with a hint of—he couldn't be sure.

Naruto didn't reply. Though he wanted to cross his arms, he knew he couldn't; it would give the impression of closing himself off. Of wanting to avoid this confrontation. Body language was crucial. So he also leaned back into his seat, his hands and arms relaxed by his sides, and didn't allow his gaze to waver.

Inoichi seemed to be giving him long consideration. The man's gaze seemed to look past or through him, and Naruto waited patiently.

The silence stretched and continued.

"I feel everything," stated Inoichi suddenly, breaking the silence. It was spoken softly. Quietly. But with no emotion. "There is no mental barrier, as some people might imagine. There is no distancing myself. I cannot pick and choose. The mind is not so simple. I cannot _skip ahead_ to what I want to know. I cannot call forth some specific memories. I must experience it _all_."

Naruto couldn't help but narrow his eyes as his confusion disappeared in the clarity of sudden realization. The man was speaking of his experiences with direct mind-interrogation.

"The physical, the mental, the emotional, the spiritual, the sensations…all, everything…I _feel_ it. Not as an observer, but as if _I _were that person – no, even greater. We are aware of ourselves for the most part. We can choose to ignore feelings. But I cannot, not when I immerse myself in a person's mind. I feel _everything_. Without choice."

Naruto resisted a shudder. He forced himself not to react to that terrible cold climbing up his spine. He ruthlessly crushed the feeling of absolute horror flushing through him.

Still speaking softly. Still without emotion. Still with that faraway gaze. "Without the thread of chakra connecting myself to my physical being, I would be lost. I would become that person. Only through sheer force of will can I keep my own identity, and even at times in the past, it took days after an interrogation to clear my mind of the other's memories…and it's difficult to tell if I ever did get them all out. Because they all, _all_, feel like my own memories. I am not an observer. _Never_ an observer. The memories become my own."

Naruto finally gathered the strength to ask, "Why are you telling me this?"

Suddenly Inoichi's eyes sharpened and pierced the blond jounin with its intensity. "You claim to be ready to make decisions, Uzumaki Naruto. I want you to know the consequences to some decisions. Because know this: the decisions you make will _never_ affect you as much as it will the person you are ordering."

Taken aback by the man's vehemence, Naruto could not form a reply.

Inoichi stood, and walked over to his desk as if he could no longer face Naruto. "Whenever I finish tearing through someone's mind, when I complete my task, I am always left feeling violated because for a time afterwards, I will remember not just being the victimizer, but _being the victim. _I am both the _rapist _and the one being _raped_."

Realization struck once again and Naruto's eyes narrowed. He also stood up. "They asked you, didn't they? They told you. That you were needed. That they want you to interrogate Yakushi Kabuto, the spy."

There was silence. But that was an answer in and of itself.

The man suddenly turned to face Naruto. All evidence of his previous agitation disappeared. His face was blank once more. He finally responded, "They requested it of me."

Naruto waited.

"There is a saying that those who have been raped would never wish that act to happen upon even those they hate. They may want to beat, torture, and kill their hated enemy, but they would never wish anyone else to suffer as they did. It is a disgusting act. It robs the victim of all control, renders them helpless. It takes away and twists intimacy into something hideous and horrific."

Inoichi face finally showed emotion. Revulsion. "The mind arts strips away _all _intimacy, _all_ privacy, _all _control. The mind interrogation arts are _worse—than—rape_." The man breathed deeply. "Knowing this, would you be willing to subject _anyone_ to such an act? Would you, knowing this fact, allow such a thing to happen?"

The man's voice smoothened, emotion gone just as suddenly as it appeared. "They requested it of me. Requested, but did not order. Hokage-sama knows how much I detest it. He knows of my oath to never do such a thing again. He knows. He gave me the facts. He told me of the need." Inoichi sighed. "War. What a cruel thing, war is. There is no such thing as an unwounded soldier in war. And yet I am led to believe that raping a person of his mind is a key to preventing this from happening."

Inoichi nodded. "Everyone on the council is aware of my distaste. No one pressed me. Hokage-sama himself clearly doesn't expect nor want me to do so again. Jiraiya-sama was the only one willing to pursue the subject, but even he was understanding." Inoichi paused. "I have been the victim of my own technique too many times. I know what is at stake. I know what it means to do such a thing again. And yet I cannot make the decision."

Inoichi glanced up and met Naruto's gaze. "Tell me, Uzumaki Naruto. You claim you're ready. Would you rape a person to prevent a war? Would you sully yourself in such a way if it means saving the lives of those you love?"

Naruto didn't respond. He slowly took steps closer to Inoichi. He reached up and gripped the man's shoulder. The blond boy gave an understanding nod. "I'm sorry we asked you to do this. I know it must be hard for you. I feel the horror even just hearing it from you, and I can't imagine what you must be feeling having fully experienced it yourself. You can read me, I know. You know I'm telling the truth. I understand. And I'm sorry we asked."

Inoichi looked down at the blond boy, his eyes searching, and nodded.

Naruto turned to the door and let a hand rest on the knob before pausing to look back.

His face hardened with steel and his eyes narrowed with intensity. He spoke steadily and with strength. "But as a commanding officer of the ANBU War Division, I will do what everyone else won't. I order you to interrogate Yakushi Kabuto with your mind arts. Understood?"

Inoichi's eyes flicked up to meet Naruto's blue in anger. And the boy in turn didn't allow his gaze to waver in the face of the man's rage. He poured his strength into that gaze: his will, his determination, his understanding of the consequences, yet his courage to do what was necessary in the face of such horror.

Naruto showed the man he was willing to accept Inoichi's anger. He was willing to make an enemy out of the clan head if it meant the safety of the village. He accepted that Inoichi would most likely hate him as a result, but even then he had the courage to accept such animosity.

Suddenly Inoichi's eyes widened as though seeing a ghost. He exhaled sharply. His eyes narrowed. Then his stance shifted, his eyes lowered, and the corners of his lips twitched as if in realization and satisfaction. Inoichi nodded calmly.

Though confused at such a response, Naruto didn't allow himself to react. He nodded back sharply and opened the door to leave.

"Naruto," called out Inoichi from behind him.

Naruto halted but didn't turn around. His insides tensed at what was about to be said. He knew Inoichi would most likely lash out at him in anger. And at that moment, Naruto was sure he deserved it.

But the voice that spoke from within the office was quiet. It was thoughtful. "Not many have the courage to see the consequences and yet still act to do what is needed, not necessarily to do what is good." There was a slight pause. "You _are_ ready to take command. And... you'd make a great Hokage."

Horrified, Naruto didn't respond and left as quickly as he could—

—and thus completely missed Inoichi's final statement. "You remind me so much of him.... Just like your father."

* * *

_Thump._ Naruto groaned as he allowed his tired arms to rest. His nose wrinkled at the dust clouds that formed when he dropped the stack of folders onto the obviously unclean desk. "Couldn't they have cleaned up this place once in a while?"

Jiraiya snorted. "Oh, quit complaining and get your shadow clones to hurry up. You know this area is banned completely. The only one with clearance when the division is deactivated is the Hokage, and believe you me, Sensei's not someone who'll tidy things up like a maid."

Naruto sighed. "So this is our base of operations for the ANBU War Division. It's bigger than I thought it'd be."

"You've never been in here?" Jiraiya sounded surprised.

The blond boy shrugged. "Sure I have. But only briefly and I didn't get to see much."

"I see," Jiraiya hummed thoughtfully. "Well, we've just passed the common area. I'm sure that was about as far as you were allowed to go in your world. Non-divisional members aren't allowed to enter the corridor leading to this area, which is where each committee will have their own cubicles to work in. The tables can be rearranged according to the task groups, and the lower-security ranked files would go in the cabinets there by the wall.

"That room over there is where the most up-to-date field map of the Shinobi Continents is located. It's also the meeting room. That room on the far left side is my office. It also has a secret pathway that'll open up to the Hokage Office's private side room. The kitchen is over there. The first room on the right is the record room for the more confidential files. And the office, the second room, is for you."

Naruto blinked. "Me?"

Jiraiya nodded with a grin. "Yep. That's for you, since you are officially the second-in-command. The Vice-Commander. You get your own office."

"Awesome!" exclaimed the blond jounin. "Wait, but why is my desk so large? It's bigger than yours!"

The Toad Hermit acted as though he had turned deaf.

Naruto felt dread. He stared at the sage, deadpanned. "You're going to make me do all the paperwork, aren't you? That extra large desk is to provide the space for it all."

Jiraiya stretched, as though freeing himself from an imaginary burden. "Ahh, good to see you're so willing to see to the paperwork."

"I hate you. I told you, the last time anyone's tried to force paperwork onto me, I quit and never returned to the job."

"ANBU Captain, eh? How long did you last, four months?" The man snorted. "I doubt you'll be doing that now. And besides, do you _really_ want _me_ to do the paperwork?"

Naruto turned green at that thought. "Ugh. Right. No. Definitely no paperwork for you."

"Boss, should we start filing these?" There were two dozen shadow clones arranged throughout the area with stacks and stacks of files pulled from the secret archives hidden beneath the Hokage Tower.

"Sure. Oh, and try to see if we need to update anything. And could a couple of you _please_ tidy up this place? Get rid of the dust – ventilate a little, that musky scent is disgusting – and restock the kitchen? Thanks!"

They were currently located at the base of the Hokage Monument in an area dedicated to the War Division. It had been active only four times since its creation: once each during the three Great Secret Shinobi Wars, and once during the Kyuubi attack. It was an area heavily protected with the Hokage himself nearby to provide direct protection. The War Division was truly the command center during wars.

"You know," said Naruto, breaking the silence between himself and his sensei, "you never did tell me why the meeting took so long. I mean, at least everything turned out like expected. You're the Commander in Chief, I'm the Vice-Commander, and the newly activated Division is firmly under our command. Inoichi is interrogating Kabuto right now and should be finished in a day or two. That shouldn't have taken nearly as long as it did."

Jiraiya was quiet for a moment, before sighing. "Sensei doesn't want me to tell you this, but since you know already…the secret of your parentage is out."

Naruto froze. "Wait... what?"

Jiraiya rubbed his temples. "Look, the Council was seriously pissed off at me. Not that I cared, honestly, but they were absolutely unwilling to budge. Not even threatening them worked. I never realized just how deeply they were opposed to anything concerning you. It was rather shocking, to tell the truth. There were many who didn't care either way, but several strong voices were heavily opposed to both your promotion and your appointment."

Naruto bit his lip. "So you told them about my connection to the Fourth?"

"The council has gotten rather.... The Sandaime is not who he once was and his influence over the Council has deteriorated sharply over these last few years. They were blatantly disrespectful to Sensei and made poorly hidden stabs as to his age and ability to make decisions."

Naruto frowned. He never would've thought the Council would go so far. His father wouldn't have stood for it.

"And Sensei, well, he's getting old. And he knows it. Today that almost overwhelmed him. Several of the most outspoken were verging on treason. It was a terrible mess."

"They hate me enough to cause treason with the Hokage, huh?" said Naruto quietly. A sharp pain of disappointment coiled in his stomach.

Jiraiya reached out and squeezed the boy's shoulders. "Not at all, Naruto. At least, not the majority of the Council. They don't hate you. They just feel uneasy. They haven't had a personal encounter with you and just don't realize how idiotic they truly are. But they don't hate you."

Naruto nodded sadly.

The Toad Hermit continued, "They wanted to know why I singled you out, why I decided to make you my apprentice. I wasn't going to tell them the true reason, of course, but another council member pieced together all the clues."

"Shikaku-san, right?"

"Actually, no. I'm sure he knew, but he also knew better than to declare it in a room full of people. It was Inuzuka Tsume, actually. I think she had only just connected the dots and blurted her thoughts out loud in her shock. Of course, once given the suggestion, the others were smart enough to begin piecing it together themselves. It caused an uproar." Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "The long and short of it is, the Council turned around completely. Those who had been silent spoke in support of you, and if not for you, then for their faith in your father. Then it was done. Even the most vocal opposition couldn't turn the tide.

"Sensei declared that for the safety of the Fourth's legacy, your parentage was now an S-rank secret punishable by death if told. I informed that if the knowledge did happen to spread, they needn't worry. I'd kill them personally."

Naruto nodded slowly. "And that took half a dozen hours?"

"Well, the rest of the hours were spent with everyone wanting to know why Sensei kept it a secret from them." Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "As if they had a 'right' to know. Idiots."

A comfortable silence formed as each became lost in his thoughts.

Naruto wasn't quite clear yet how he felt about having the Council know of his parents. A part of him was unconcerned—after all, he had lived in a world where it was common knowledge – and yet another part of him was concerned at how this would pan out. Would they accept him then? Would they finally set aside their suspicion and animosity? A part of him felt like he was cheating the real Uzumaki Naruto of his right. It was disturbing.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Naruto glanced down at the stack before him. This specific set of files was a brief intelligence overview of all ANBU members currently active and retired, profiles that were remarkably accurate and had been compiled by professional psychologists. It was from this group that he and Jiraiya would have to hand-pick members to form the newly activated division.

"Do you have any ideas for who you'll want to pick?" asked the Toad Hermit.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I've got a couple. I want to get my old team back together again, and I know several ANBU who are trustworthy and capable of pulling a good job—"

"That's what I was afraid of," interrupted Jiraiya, a frown on his face. The boy raised a brow in question. "This has to be said," the white-haired shinobi muttered to himself. He looked up to firmly meet the boy's eyes. "Naruto, you are in a different world. Things have changed. People you know, people you may be familiar with…they are not the same people. You've already noticed the change in Kakashi. The same is true for everyone."

"I know that—!" began Naruto with a pout.

"Do you?" Jiraiya leaned forward. "Naruto, even _I_ am not the same as your Jiraiya. I _know_ you sometimes forget. And I know you may want me to be the same. Hell, I may even _be_ the same most of the time. But I am not your Jiraiya, and I never will be. You're going have to acknowledge and accept that."

Naruto felt a sudden wave of homesickness wash over him and bit his lip to stop his sadness from showing.

Jiraiya seemed to understand, and his voice softened. "Just keep what I said in mind when you look over the files, all right? The history of your friends may not be the same at all. Just be prepared for it."

Naruto nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak yet.

Suddenly Jiraiya grinned. "Hey, you want to go to a training ground and show me how to add elemental chakra to the Rasengan?"

The blond jounin knew Jiraiya was only trying to cheer him up, but he felt his depression sweep away nevertheless. "Sure. My clones will need to time to sort through everything anyhow. Let's go, and I'll show you my most destructive technique."

Jiraiya ignored the sudden chill that crawled up his spine. Surely it couldn't be that bad, right? Maybe a little more powerful than the one used to apprehend Kabuto…right?

* * *

The sun was setting in the farthest distance and a peaceful lull settled over the village. The furious activity of the day slowed to a lazy rest as ninja and civilian alike tucked into their homes. It was just like any other dusk in the comfort and security of the Hidden Village of Konoha, and the nightly routine began as mothers prepared dinner for their hungry children and husbands. A contented atmosphere filled the air—

Wind howled and screamed.

The ground shook with reverberations.

Chakra exploded in a storm.

Children cried, mothers shook in fear, shinobi leaped to activity—

And the Sandaime, in the midst of smoking his pipe while observing his crystal ball, gave a weary sigh.

* * *

_  
__**To be continued...**_

_ANBU ARC Part Four: __Snake in Sheep's Clothing__ will be updated very soon, but reviews really help encourage me to write! So take the hint, spend a minute, and review! As I've said before, I honestly appreciate each and every review you make, even the one-worded ones. Reviews really show me that you've taken precious time out of your schedule to comment on my fic – and there's nothing more an author can ask for._

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**End Notes:**

First, I'd like to apologize for not replying to your reviews. I've had a terribly busy week, what with a move and schoolwork, so I haven't had much free time available. I thought, though, that you guys would appreciate it more if I updated instead of keeping you waiting.

So, here we are. Inoichi was an interesting character to attempt to write, and I hope that it was believable. The final portion of this chapter, the scene between Jiraiya and Naruto, is also extremely important. I hope you all can figure out why.

The next chapter title will introduce Anko, Danzo, and the members of the War Division. The status for chapter progress is written on my profile.

Until next time, then. I'll try to get to answering your reviews soon.

Thanks for reading.

Please, once again, review! Tell me what you think! I really appreciate any and all feedback.

Comments always welcome.

-- _liath_


	9. ANBU ARC 04: Snake in Sheep's Clothing

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_**  
AN**__sastsu Senjutsu Tokushu __**BU**__tai Arc_  
**Part IV: Snake in Sheep's Clothing**

_by Taliath  
_

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**  
Vice-Commander's Log, Day 1**

_Uzumaki Naruto, Jounin_

_Was scolded by the Third for causing a ruckus. The pay for fixing damages to the training ground will come out of my own pocket. I guess we did cause unnecessary alarm__,__b__ut __E__ro-sennin was totally surprised__. __Ha!_

Naruto paused. He tapped the pen lightly on the table as he considered what to write. He very deliberately refused to eye the growing pile of paperwork sitting oh-so-innocently on the corner of his table.

_Inoichi gave __a __preliminary report from his five-hour interrogation __with__ Kabuto. Too exhausted to continue. He'll rest for the night before pushing ahead__, n__ot that it matters. Report dashed hopes for early strike._

The pen paused. Naruto sighed. The report that Inoichi gave had been very short and succinct: he had succeeded in viewing random pieces of Kabuto's memories – around a couple months' worth – and from what the man could piece together, Orochimaru had been planning to invade Konoha for at least a couple years.

But more importantly, Inoichi found that according to the knowledge resting in Kabuto's mind, Orochimaru was only going to meet with the Kazekage for a one to two-day period. That window of opportunity had passed a long time ago.

_First meeting of the War Division was small. Just __E__ro-sennin, the Hokage, and m__yself__. We discussed who we wanted to bring into the division to head the committees. It was weird. The Sandaime was present but he rarely spoke. Something seemed to be occupying his attention. Or was it just that he trusted __me and __Jiraiya to handle everything?_

The Third had informed him that it was part of his responsibilities as the Vice-Commander to write a log of all his activities. So here he was, with a growing list of responsibilities, being forced to write a _diary_. He was supposed to summarize his thoughts, to think through the actions of the day, to leave a record for the next Vice-Commander.

Naruto considered what he had written, before nodding and writing once more:

_I hate this._

He had looked over the logs of the previous Vice-Commanders. They had terrible handwriting. He could only just barely make out what they were writing in those chicken scrawls. Apparently they had felt just about as happy as him at being forced to do more paperwork.

The boy couldn't help but yawn as weariness finally got the better of him.

_I haven't slept in a bed for over forty-eight hours. I've fought twice since then with A-rank ninja__s__ and used my most powerful technique. That was fun. Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun_—

Naruto blinked drowsily. He was tired. Really. He shook himself awake. He needed to finish this.

_Too tired to write more. It's midnight. Tomorrow it begins. Tomorrow._

Tomorrow: Konoha's great engine of war would begin to turn once more. They would wake the sleeping dragon.

He set down the pen and closed the notebook carefully. He had a long day before him and had better get to sleep. As he left, he spied the light still on in Jiraiya's office, but was too tired to investigate. He rubbed his eyes as he left the division headquarters and headed off towards his apartment.

As he ambled towards his most desired bed, he reviewed the brief first meeting they had held just two hours before. He recalled all he would have to do tomorrow and groaned weakly. He was going to be so _busy_, and there was a morning meeting planned as well. This time, even Inoichi would attend.

Finally reaching his apartment, Naruto charged his hand with chakra and molded the energy into a specific and precise pattern. The soft ethereal light morphed into seal lines, and after a quick glance to confirm that the pattern on his hand was exactly right, the blond pressed his hand against a smooth portion of the wall next to his apartment door. The chakra bled into the wall, and clusters of ethereal blue lit up, the energy flowing out of the specific pattern into the other seals protecting the apartment. As the light continued to glow, Naruto quickly opened the door and entered. When he closed it shut, the light finally faded away.

He was now safely inside.

With another yawn, his thousandth one since leaving the headquarters, he wasted no time in stripping off his vest, pants, and shirt. He reached for his pajamas, wearily pulled on his night cap, and with a long sigh of content, fell into the bed.

_I wonder if the dogs are cake_—

And with that intelligent thought, Naruto fell deeply into sleep.

* * *

**First Meeting of the War Division**

"...which is what I pieced together from the knowledge I gained from Kabuto's memories and Jiraiya-sama's report to the council. Granted, I'll need a couple more days of intense interrogation to get everything, but I thought it would be a good idea to inform the War Division of my findings so far." Inoichi gave a long sigh and wearily wiped his forehead.

Naruto resisted the urge to frown and simply left his face blank. Glancing at the Hokage, who had been silent the entire time, the blond jounin finally spoke. "Thanks, Inoichi. We really appreciate it. And you look very exhausted – go ahead and continue the interrogation after a good night's rest. We'll be meeting tomorrow morning at eight, so make sure you're here for that."

Inoichi nodded. "It took a while getting used to, and I'm afraid my control wasn't up to par. I wasted too much chakra and energy at the start. I should be better adjusted tomorrow."

"Cool," stated Naruto with a small smile. "Just make sure you don't strain yourself so early on. We'll need you to handle the Information and Interrogation Committee. If you push yourself too hard, you might burn out."

"I'll take it easy," agreed the clan head. He bowed low to the Hokage and Jiraiya, who had both been rather quiet, and disappeared with a puff of smoke.

A moment after Inoichi left, Naruto sighed and slowly rubbed his temples. "Well, that's not exactly good news at all."

Jiraiya rubbed his chin. "Not good news, true, but it doesn't mean we can't turn it to our advantage."

"We'll have to scrap our plans for an early preemptive strike then," said Naruto with a frown, giving into the urge, "since we let our window of opportunity pass us by. It's far too late to organize a task force that'll be fast enough to intercept either the Kazekage or Orochimaru at their meeting location. They're most likely already heading back to their homes by now."

There was a moment of silence.

Naruto's thoughts spun furiously. Now that they had lost their chance to be _proactive_, they would now be forced to be _reactive_.

The Third finally spoke, his voice calm and thoughtful. "In any case, we have lost our opportunity to end this mess from the very start. They've met and we have to assume that an alliance has been formed. This places us at a very weak position."

Naruto let out a long breath, his frown deepening with concern. He shook his head slowly. "We need more information, information that Inoichi needs to get for us. Our eyes are blinded at the moment and it'll be impossible to determine our next course of action. We need more information, and that's going to take days."

"So then…" murmured the Third, his eyes glancing down at the blond jounin. Had Naruto looked up to meet the Hokage's gaze, he would have noted the thoughtful gleam in those aged eyes. He would have been highly suspicious. "What shall we do in the mean time?"

"We might as well begin preparing for the worst," said Naruto firmly. He imagined what his father might do in a situation like this. He could almost hear his father's voice speaking in that same soft, yet compelling tone. He missed the gleam in the Sandaime's eyes sharpen. "There's no use sitting on our hands while waiting. Since we've time now to think through our actions deliberately, we can begin systemic reactivation of Konoha's war engine. We know for certain that the invasion will occur during the Chuunin Exams. That gives us a period of three months to the First and Second Trials, and then another month until the Final Examinations, so we have four months total."

Jiraiya leaned back into his seat, arms folded across the chest, his eyes on Naruto. "What can we do in four months?"

Naruto answered almost automatically, channeling his father. It was so much easier than he would have thought. All those years, during the wars and during his time as ANBU captain, he had stood by his father. He had listened and learned from the legendary Fourth Hokage. And it was so _easy_ to recall and speak as his father would. "Four months is a lifetime, a lifetime that we'll make sure Orochimaru will regret. Our immediate objectives will need to be the galvanization of the War Division into a fully functional command center. Once the War Division is up and running, we should be able to use the resources available to take our next steps."

Jiraiya nodded with a satisfied smile on his face. "Which means our first order of business will be to appoint heads for the four committees in the War Division."

"Right," agreed Naruto. "I know the Vice-Commander is usually also the head of the Ground Forces committee. Will we be following that tradition?"

"Yes," answered the Sandaime. "You'll pick three ANBU Captains to assist you. The Ground Forces will be doing most of the grunt work in the War Division. You will also be responsible for creating that vital link between the War Division command and the regular shinobi forces."

"Inoichi is our head of the Information and Interrogation committee," said Naruto, biting his lip, "which means he'll be in charge of information control, both inbound and outbound. He'll be responsible for the maintenance of the spy network, liaison with other intelligence agencies in Konoha, analysis and processing of all data, screening for possible spies and intelligence leaks, and interrogation of any captured traitors." His brows wrinkled in thought. "Is that all?"

"He'll also be responsible for liaising with the cryptographers," the Third added, his eyes still shining with interest. He continued with a prompt. "That's two of the four committees."

"That leaves the Tactical Strategy and Analysis committee, and the Internal Administrative Affairs committee." Naruto shrugged. "Who'll head those?"

Sandaime steeped his fingers under his chin. "The Nara clan has traditionally taken up the mantel for the position as the head of Strategy. Perhaps Shikaku will be willing to assist you?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "Great, I suppose he would be the best, being part of that genius clan and whatnot."

"I'm glad you agree," said the Third with an amused look. "Then I shall leave it up to you to convince him."

The blond jounin looked up sharply. "Convince him?"

The Third ignored the question. "As for the Internal Affairs, I would suggest Yakono Mayaki. She is currently the Chief of the Accounting Office. She has a very strong talent for numbers, and she will be a very competent addition to the War Committee."

"I've heard that name before," wondered Naruto, muttering.

Jiraiya nodded. "She was quite a promising ninja once. A legend in the making during the Third Great War, but she lost both her legs and an eye during the Kyuubi attack and had to retire early."

Naruto winced. It was her. He remembered her clearly now. She too had been the Chief Accountant in his dimension, and a nasty one at that. She had become poisoned by her bitterness, and turned her anger and hate outwards. In fact, the only person she was remotely respectful to was the Fourth Hokage.

But she was a mathematical genius. And they needed one to keep track of all the economics and logistics that went into battle. After all, poor logistical support would make for a terribly short and disastrous war.

"That's right," said Naruto, his voice didn't hint at his inner turmoil. "She does great work. I know that it was a lot of her work that allowed Konoha to recover so quickly after the Kyuubi attack."

Sarutobi nodded in satisfaction. "Yes, Mayaki is quite an important asset to Konoha. I shall extend our invitation myself. I know she will not refuse."

"All right, then." Naruto glanced around. "After our meeting tomorrow, I'll get in touch with Shikaku. In the mean time, I think it's getting late, and I don't know about you old men, but I'm a growing boy who needs his sleep." He grinned cheekily.

The Third sighed. "I'm afraid you won't be getting to sleep anytime soon." He passed on a sheet of paper to Naruto. "That's the list of ANBU with my personal recommendations. Choose three of them for your Ground Forces."

Naruto quickly glanced down at the list. He knew the majority – or at least, he knew about their counterparts in his old world. Some of their names had been on the Memorial Stone. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. I'll get to reading their files tonight. I'll have my choices presented to you in the morning."

Jiraiya clapped his hands with satisfaction. "Excellent, then this meeting is over. I'll see you all tomorrow. I need to go research." He nodded to both of them in goodbye, then disappeared.

The blond jounin rolled his eyes. "I swear, I'll be forced to do all paperwork for this war."

The Third smiled gently. "You will have to get used to it, my boy. After all, the only person who will have to deal with more paperwork than the Vice-Commander of the War Division is the Hokage."

Naruto actually shuddered and turned green. "Right... W-well, I'd better go."

The Third watched as Naruto left. The aged eyes stared thoughtfully into the distance. Within them was a glimmer of hope.

* * *

Naruto's eyes narrowed. His concentration would not be broken. A dozen different scenarios sprang to mind as he considered each and every single one. A bead of sweat wound its way down the side of his head. He would try his best to defeat his opponent. He bit the corner of his lips – this would decide the fate of Konoha – then looked up triumphantly—

_Click_. He placed the shogi piece neatly onto the wooden board.

"Interesting," murmured his opponent. The man carefully stroked his short beard. "But not enough, I'm afraid." _Click_.

Naruto froze. Ugh. He was being led into a trap, one that would take much maneuvering to get out of, and one that he had not seen until that very point. This opponent was _good_. Far better than even his father. Another bead of sweat rolled down.

The man sitting opposite the blond jounin calmly took a sip of tea, perfectly relaxed. He was the picture of calm.

The blond jounin focused once more, attempting furiously to find a way out of this mess.

"Ah, this is good tea," muttered his opponent. "I'm surprised, you play surprisingly well for your age. And I had believed that you wouldn't have the patience to play a game such as this. It has already been over an hour since we started playing."

Naruto knew this, he knew this all too well. It had been an agonizing hour of trying to defeat this man in shogi. The jounin answered, distractedly, "I've been playing shogi with Jiraiya-sensei for a long time. He said it would help me build patience, as well as exercise my strategic thinking." He glanced up.

Nara Shikaku smiled gently. "Did he now?" He took another sip of his tea, only to find it empty. He turned to the also-empty pot with a small disappointed frown. "It seems we've run out. Please, excuse me for a moment."

Naruto barely noticed. He was still glaring at the board.

_This is impossible_.

That thought had crossed his mind more than once this past hour. How could he win? There was absolutely no way. Long-term strategic thinking, while not his weakness, wasn't necessarily his strength either. And that was the whole reason in coming here today.

_I can't win. He knows this. Why is he doing this, knowing that he'll defeat me?_

Naruto puzzled on this for a moment, having finally the chance to review his morning since the meeting with the Third.

The meeting had been short, lasting no more than a half-hour to make sure that everything was in order. The summary of the war effort and current intelligence that Naruto had drawn up the night before (he would need to get a Chuunin assistant today) had been copied and given to the Hokage. Furthermore, he had given the Third his pick for the three ANBU captains working under him:

Tenzo. Uzuki Yuugao.

And Mitarashi Anko.

His choices had raised more than one eyebrow. Especially for Anko.

_She is more than qualified_, Naruto had defended. _It is only due to the stupid council that she wasn't able to make it up to that station. And besides, we're fighting a war against Orochimaru. Apart from the Third and the Sannin, she is the next best source for information on how he thinks and reacts_.

His list approved and with the meeting drawing to a close, Naruto had immediately sought out the first two captains on his list. Both had been rather easy to convince, especially seeing as rumors concerning Naruto's capture of Kabuto had already spread through the Konoha ANBU force—

Tenzo: _Naruto! You probably don't even remember me, but the last time I saw you, you were still a little boy making a mess of the ANBU headquarters. I couldn't believe it when I heard.... The War Division? Ah, I see. I accept. I'll inform my team immediately.... No. Don't worry. We've already heard that you're the apprentice to Jiraiya-sama__, a__nd your recent capture of some high-level traitor__ – __don't look so shocked, we haven't heard too much__,__ and if even a fraction of the rumors I hear are true, th__e__n you more than deserve your promotion. Well, anyways, the rumors have alleviated a lot of people's concerns. We're shinobi and we're professionals. I'm sure my team won't have a problem with you being in command._

Naruto really liked Tenzo; the shinobi was identical to the one back at home. He just knew that they would work well together. And then there had been—

Yuugao: _Yes, Naruto-san__,__ I accept. I will update my team and report to the War Division headquarters as ordered.... I am confused. Why would anyone be concerned with your age or ability? You are the commanding officer appointed by the Third Hokage. _

She had then left. It was clear to Naruto that, even in this world, Yuugao followed her orders to the letter and believed that the authority of the Hokage was absolute. She would make a great asset.

With the recruitment of two ANBU captains, Naruto had decided to detour from going to Anko by visiting someone else first. He had expected the visit to be short, and perhaps he would be enjoying a simple sharing of tea.

He had been wrong.

* * *

"Uzumaki Naruto," Nara Shikaku had stated, "I have been expecting you. Come in, take a seat."

Naruto did as asked, then began. "It is the desire of the ANBU War Division that you—"

"I'm very much aware of what it is that you want from me," interrupted Shikaku with amusement.

The blond jounin nodded slowly. Of course, this was the head of the Nara clan. It was to be expected. "Right, then. The War Council will be convening tomorrow morning. If you could familiarize yourself with this report I've prepared—"

Shikaku lifted up a hand and Naruto paused in confusion. The man shook his head. "I never agreed to any position. You know very well that I have retired from active shinobi duty. Why should I return to the role?"

Naruto could barely prevent himself from frowning. "You are the most capable—"

"Perhaps," acknowledged Shikaku. "But there are others who would be almost as able. They would do a fine job. I know you've spoken to Inoichi and somehow made him agree to return to active duty, and I can understand why he allowed himself to be convinced. After all, the information you were after could only be determined by someone with Inoichi's unique talents, ones that are not found anywhere else." He paused for a moment, before turning to look straight into Naruto's eyes. "But I, I am not unique. There are many in this village that can do as good a job. So tell me, why?"

For a long moment, Naruto puzzled over his response – what was he to say to that? Why _did_ they need Shikaku? The man was the best, no question. But he was also correct in that there were others who could fill the role. What was the jounin to say?

_Click_. The blond jounin looked up, his brow raised in question at the small table and shogi set that was placed between them.

Shikaku answered with an amused look. "Let's see. We will settle this with a game of shogi. If you win, I will accept the role offered to me and return to active duty. And if I win—" the man's eyes grew cold, "—then you will leave and never bother me again."

Just looking into that steely gaze, Naruto knew instantly that the clan head would not budge an inch. And the man was being absolutely serious.

_This is impossible_. But what could he do?

He leaned forward, and moved a piece.

_Click._

* * *

"It appears you've lost."

Naruto let out a long breath in defeat. He had been soundly crushed. It hadn't even been a match of any sort. In the next thirty minutes since Shikaku's return, the blond jounin had been led around his nose until the man had finally taken pity and ended the game.

It had been an impossible match.

Even still, there was a hint of disappointment coiling in his gut. Naruto nodded slowly, trying not to let it show. He had lost. _Deal with it_. He bowed then stood up. "Thank you for your time, Shikaku-san. I wish you and your clan well."

Shikaku was surprised. It showed. "You're leaving? So soon? Where is this stubbornness of Uzumaki Naruto that I've heard so much about?"

Naruto met his gaze. "It was because of my stubbornness that I saw this match through to the end, Shikaku-san, and it is that same stubbornness that allows me to keep my promises, no matter what."

_I respect you enough to accept defeat and honor our deal._

The man nodded in understanding. "Excellent. Then before you leave, may I ask one final question of a more personal nature?"

The blond resisted a frown and waited.

Shikaku smiled gently, set down his tea, then spoke in a rough, ruthless voice, "What makes you think, with that arrogance you have, that you have any right to your position when you can't even play a decent game of shogi, Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto froze.

Shikaku waited calmly.

Time slowed to a crawl.

It felt as if Shikaku had stabbed him with a needle exactly at his weakest point, with just enough force to shatter him. And just as a diamond would fracture if applied pressure correctly, he felt as if he too had been surgically and with great precision hit at exactly the right spot.

Really, what gave him the right to be the Vice-Commander? There were dozens more qualified – how arrogant had he been to assume that he could really do Konoha justice?

For a moment that lasted an eternity, Naruto doubted himself—

No.

He had not _failed_. He had made mistakes, true, but he had most importantly _learned_ from his mistakes.

That was not failure. He had learned—

Naruto's eyes widened. It clicked.

Blue eyes met brown.

_This is impossible__! _he had once thought. Of course it was. Shikaku had made it purposefully that way. The man had known for an absolute fact that he would win against the blond.

Naruto smiled. "You're right, Shikaku-san. I'm not the perfect shinobi for the job. I'm not as experienced as some, as strong, nor as well connected, or even well known. But I will do my best—"

Shikaku interrupted, "Your best is not—"

"Nor do I expect my best to be enough," continued Naruto firmly. "I know that I will make mistakes. But I am only human—"

Brown eyes narrowed. "The Vice-Commander of the War Division cannot afford to be human—"

"But a shinobi of any position of leadership must be fully aware of his weaknesses and faults…and his limitations." Naruto didn't back down. "I know my limitations. I know my weaknesses."

"And these weaknesses are—"

"But more importantly," stated Naruto determinedly, "I know that I will need to accept help. One of the founding tenants of Konoha is the reliance on teamwork to achieve more than the sum of each member's individual efforts. That's exactly why I'm here today."

Shikaku's face was expressionless, void of any emotion.

Naruto nodded. "You're right, I sucked at shogi. You crushed my offensive and toyed with my efforts until the very end. And that's why I need you."

_I'm willing to listen. I'm willing to learn. I will value your opinion. I'm not an arrogant, overconfident child who will ignore the advice of others._

The message, unspoken though it was, was clear.

There was a long moment of silence – and then Shikaku's lips twitched. He nodded gracefully and with pride in his eyes, as though Naruto had passed some sort of test – which the blond had. "You may leave the folder. I'm sure you've wasted enough time humoring a retired shinobi like myself. I will be there at the meeting tomorrow."

Naruto's face lit up brightly. With another bow, he left the folder on the small table and turned to leave. He heard behind him, as Shikaku called out in goodbye—

"And good luck to us all, Vice-Commander."

Naruto's grin would have split his face it if grew any bigger.

* * *

She took a small sip of sake and sighed with content, leaning back into her seat at the corner of the crowded bar. It was a rather peaceful night—

"Bitch, you take that back! It didn't happen that way and you know it!"

So quiet, too…

Another voice shouted, "Oh, shove it, Heiro! It happened exactly like that!" Roaring laughter was heard all around as various groups of shinobi enjoyed their time off-duty.

Yes, too quiet. It seemed, to her at least, that there was an unnatural lull in the organized chaos that usually surrounded the village. What exactly had caused this? Something had changed. It was as though the very atmosphere of the village became…happier?

"Reisha, I'm gonna fucking kill you if you don't shut the hell up!" The man shook his fist.

Well, she corrected herself, if not happier then at least…less aggressive.

"Bah, you haven't beaten me once yet in any of our spars, lunkhead." A hand waved away the threat as negligent.

She wondered briefly what they were discussing. She hadn't been paying much attention. But it seemed many around the bar were somewhat aware, if their knowing looks said anything. _What could it be about? _she wondered. She had been away on a mission and had only just returned.

In fact, now that she thought about it, everything seemed so different when she had returned. _Something_ had changed…but what?

Narrowing her eyes, she snapped her fingers, drawing the attention of the bartender.

The bartender, a retired shinobi, raised his brow. "What d'ya want, Anko? Another drink?"

Anko rolled her eyes. "Nah, I'm fine for now. What are they talking about?" She jerked her head to indicate the crowd behind her.

"You mean you don't know?" the man sounded surprised. "The rumors are pretty much everywhere."

"I've been out on a mission for a while." She frowned. "Haven't had much time to listen to rumors."

"Ah," nodded the bartender in understanding. "Well, it seems our resident troublemaker, that Uzumaki kid, has been promoted to jounin."

"What?!" Anko coughed, having swallowed the alcohol wrong. "That orange loudmouthed brat? Why the hell would the Third do that?"

The bartender nodded. "I know, it took everyone by surprise. But apparently he's been seen in close contact with Jiraiya-sama, and rumor has it that Jiraiya-sama has been teaching the kid for years. Don't know how they managed to hide the training from everyone, but that's Jiraiya-sama for you, I guess."

Anko blinked a couple times. She finally muttered to herself, "Huh, just goes to show how unpredictable the world can be."

"No kidding," the bartender replied, having heard her. "There's also rumors of the kid capturing some A-ranked spy in our ranks, as well as causing that enormous commotion the other night."

"Commotion? What, you mean that enormous chakra explosion?"

"Yup, were you here when that happened?"

Anko shook her head slowly. "I was five miles out from the main gate." When she had felt the chakra storm, she had been so sure that something terrible had happened to her home (perhaps an S-rank shinobi had struck Konoha) only to race back and find that the village was perfectly safe. And apparently some idiot had been training a bit too hard.

The bartender whistled. "You felt it from that far out, eh? You don't say…" He shook his head slowly. "It was the kid, all right. Apparently he had been training with Jiraiya-sama. I've heard from witness accounts that three empty training grounds were absolutely destroyed."

She couldn't imagine such wide-spread damage from a single technique. "So what's got that Heiro all worked up?"

The man rolled his eyes. "Apparently Heiro was assigned to bring a message or something to Uzumaki. He tried to enter the kid's home and was caught by the security measures. Did some nasty, embarrassing, and humiliating things to him, I've heard."

There was a moment of silence, as both were lost in their thoughts.

"Oh," mentioned the bartender. He leaned forward and lowered his voice, "there's another rumor going around, very quietly mind you, that Uzumaki Naruto seems to resemble a certain legendary ninja. I mean, he's gotten rid of his orange clothes and his goggles, and with the jounin vest and headband around his neck...well...he looks awfully similar to—"

"I've found that there are certain speculations that are best left unsaid, wouldn't you say, Satoshi-san?" interrupted a young voice lightly.

Anko's head snapped to her left and her eyes narrowed. She hadn't even noticed his approach, she realized.

Uzumaki Naruto grinned up at her, his eyes dancing with amusement.

It was then that she noticed the rest of the pub had gone silent. Everyone was staring at the so-called prodigy before them.

And Naruto didn't seem to even notice the attention. He held himself with confidence – not the arrogant stance of genin, so full of themselves, but rather that of a trained shinobi with years of experience. He scratched the back of his head, an innocent yet infectious smile on his face. "Anko-san, mind if we went somewhere more—" he glanced around, "—private?"

Anko raised a brow. She had to admit, she was curious. Taking a swig of the shot glass to empty it of its last drops, she abruptly stood and snaked an arm around the kid's shoulders. "Sure kid, where to?" She grinned, a glint in her eyes, and addressed the rather quiet bartender before her. "Kids these days with their tactless pick-up lines. So direct with what they want." She heard several people snort behind her.

Naruto, rather than being embarrassed, just rolled his eyes. "My first time in a brothel was at the tender age of nine. I've probably seen more naked women than any man in this pub." There were quite a few murmurs at that statement, and even a few distasteful hisses from several women. Naruto quickly noted this and adopted a helpless look. "Jiraiya was my sensei, you know? It wasn't like I could stop him from forcing me into those places, ripping away my youthful innocence!"

When several kunoichi actually cooed, Anko decided that her little prank had backfired and that it was time to get going. Thus, within moments, both Anko and Naruto had retreated to an empty playground several ways away from the pub.

Anko looked up at the stars, sitting rather relaxed on a set of swings. "So, what's it you want?"

The blond, also sitting on a swing next to her, looked briefly her way. "I'm sure you've heard by now some of the rumors."

She nodded wordlessly.

He continued, "Well, I've been promoted to Jounin, and also to the position as Vice-Commander for the ANBU War Division."

She glanced sharply in his direction. He nodded. She exhaled slowly. "No kidding. The War Division. And you as the Vice-Commander?"

Naruto met her probing stare steadily. There was a long moment that stretched in silence as they simply took measure of each other. Satisfied with what she found, Anko smirked and motioned for him to continue.

"You're most likely already aware, but I need three ANBU captains to help form the Ground Forces. I've already talked to Tenzo and Yuugao, which means—"

"—you need one more. Me." Anko's eyes narrowed in realization. Her voice was void of any emotion. "Which could only mean one thing: it's Orochimaru we're dealing with."

Naruto answered slowly after a moment. "Yeah, it's him, the snake bastard."

Anko was silent.

The blond jounin struggled to think of something to say. After several minutes, he finally spoke. "Look, I've had to get through a lot of red tape to get your nomination approved, but I know that you're the right choice. We'll need your insight into how he thinks, his methodology, and you can give us—"

"I'll do it," she interrupted him. Her voice was firm.

Naruto blinked. "You will?"

She looked up.

He nearly flinched at the murderous glint in her eyes, but managed to simply nod slowly. He understood perfectly.

She rose silently to her feet. "When's the first meeting?"

"Tomorrow morning at nine. Meet me in the common area of the division command nerve. The other two captains will be there as well."

"And my team?"

"Since you're not currently assigned to any single one, you can pick and choose your squad. Total freedom without any red tape."

She nodded sharply. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Vice-Commander Uzumaki."

Naruto smiled. He nodded back just as firmly. "Welcome to the War Division, ANBU Captain Mitarashi."

Her usual smirk appeared for the briefest instant before it disappeared. She turned and slowly left the playground. Just as she reached the edge, she turned and called out, "And Naruto? Thanks."

Naruto understood her silent message, and a wide grin stretched across his face. "Don't make me regret it, Anko."

Both ninjas' images blurred before disappearing, leaving the playground silent save for the creaking of the swing as it swung lazily back and forth.

* * *

**Vice-Commander's Log, Day 3**

_...__C__onfirmed the list of administrative duties for each committee within the War Division. Intel follow-up reports state that Orochimaru and the Kazekage plan to meet once more during the one-month interval between the first portion of the Chuunin Exams and the actual public tournament..._

_...__T__hat is our window of opportunity..._

_...__N__eed to find out the timing for that meeting and location. All active resources must be used to find out that piece of intelligence..._

_...__S__keleton shinobi crew for the nine border forts while having a full presence of samurai forces from the Fire Daimyo. Need to quietly activate the forts nearest the common border with Sand and Sound. Ninja reinforcement needed to augment the skeleton crew..._

_...__O__rganize review of the village defense security. Alter all access codes. Nothing must be the same from when Orochimaru was an active shinobi of the Konoha forces..._

_...__L__ots of coordination. Shadow Clones will provide most of the grunt work..._

_...I need to train..._

_...__A__ctivation of all hidden assets..._

_...__A__ll __j__ounin, especially __j__ounin__senseis__,__ must be warned. Will do so later today with the Hokage's authority. Chance to acquaint myself with all the senior__-__ranking jounin. Need to organize a meet with all the current ANBU Commanders and their Vice-Commanders..._

_...__A__bove all, we need intelligence. WHEN and WHERE will OROCHIMARU meet with the KAZEKAGE? That is the bottom line. That is__ the__ single most important piece of intel that we need to get our hands on. Various agencies are cooperating to obtain that vital piece of information, but will it be enough? There is another way__, a__ road that I am unwilling to walk, but may have to__,__ in light of recent events. We NEED that information. It is imperative._

_There is only one other intelligence agency that has a network as vast and wide as Jiraiya's__, b__ut it is also the only second agency functioning outside of the Hokage's direct control__ – __the first being, of course, Jiraiya's. And we need to enlist the aid of that agency._

_Jiraiya disagrees. But I cannot allow our sentimentality to get in the way of what needs to be done._

_I know my father will agree._

_After all—_

_He kept ANBU Root functioning even when he had the chance to crush Danzo__u__ and his minions during the aftermath of the Kyuubi attack__._

* * *

The corridor was dark. Naruto gently pushed chakra to his eyes to heighten their senses. Though there was water flowing, as it often did in the underground sewage system that ran throughout much of Konoha, he did not make a single sound. Ahead he saw several security seals, complex arrays that were nearly impossible to detect and subvert, but he breezed by with almost no pause.

He had been here several times in the past.

Above ground, it was a bright afternoon, and unbeknownst to most of the Konoha population, even to most of the shinobi forces except in the highest echelons, work was being done to secure the defense of Konoha in the upcoming war.

Anko and her ANBU team, with support from a Naruto clone, were combing through the village to check and restore all security seals; Tenzo and his team, along with another Shadow Clone, were reviewing all emergency plans to check their validity and update them accordingly; Yuugao, her team, and yet another Naruto clone were liaising and coordinating the efforts of all the different ANBU divisions and the office for mission control, keeping track of all inbound and outbound ninja, as well as their locations.

Finally, another Naruto clone was sitting in the Vice-Commander's office, orchestrating all the work of the various committees in the War Division, with the aid of two Chuunin.

The joys of being a master of the Shadow Clone technique.

If there ever was an emergency that required Naruto's real presence...well, there were several seals graved in various locations that would allow Naruto to use _Hiraishin no Jutsu_ to zip over within several seconds.

Naruto grimaced as he had to disable a particularly tricky and rather nasty security trap. If he hadn't been so familiar with the security layout, nor been rather competent with seals, he wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as he had, especially undetected. It was a virtual fortress down here.

Danzou was always a paranoid bastard, the blond jounin acknowledged, but this was ridiculous.

At last he stood before the large cavern that held the base for Danzou's ANBU Root division. He grinned. The time for being secretive was finally over.

A split second of concentration formed a Rasengan in his right hand, which he slammed forward onto the metal sheet blocking his path.

A sharp grinding noise echoed loudly throughout the sewers; the tremors as raw chakra twisted and ripped apart reinforced steel could be felt for quite a ways, shaking and reverberating the very earth surrounding the tunnels.

And it brought the greatest alarm to many of the ANBU Root currently experiencing – not enjoying – downtime. But more importantly, it brought a rather knowing gleam to Danzou's eyes.

The entrance to the hidden headquarters was blown apart in an impressive show of force. Naruto walked in with a lazy gait, showing not a single concern for the dozen ANBU Root shinobi surrounding him from various positions, all along the walls and even the roof of the large underground cavern.

The blond jounin appeared decidedly unimpressed with the crippled, old shinobi standing behind a large wooden desk, papers in a mess due to the tremors. The boy had a small smile playing across his face. "Danzou-san, sorry for the mess. I would have rung the bell, but there wasn't one in sight."

Danzou's eyes narrowed. He replied calmly, without any hint of emotion, "_Vice-Commander_ Namikaze, I'm honored you sought me out even in this remote place. I apologize for the oversight. I'll be sure to install a bell next time."

Ouch. To reveal his true lineage before so many witnesses. Naruto didn't allow anything to show in his reaction. Instead, he continued to smile. "Ah, no, no, the honor is all mine. To meet such an iconic and legendary figure of the Second Secret Shinobi War is a very great honor, sir. In fact, I believe you were even present during the First War, were you not?"

Danzou simply sat back down on his seat, not ruffled in the least. "I suppose for someone who has yet to lived through any war, it must be rather an experience to meet a veteran such as myself. But enough. What is it you want, Vice-Commander?"

Naruto ignored the predatory Root surrounding him and walked forward, completely relaxed. "You have always had the best interest in mind for Konoha. You have always been prepared to do all that was necessary to keep Konoha from destruction."

Danzou considered those words, before nodding. "Where are you going with this, Vice-Commander?"

Naruto took in a deep breath. "And I know, contrary to popular belief amongst the highest levels of our shinobi forces, that you are willing to acknowledge and bend knee when you truly believe someone is capable to leading Konoha to a brighter future. My father, the Fourth Hokage, was one such person. You actively supported him because you knew that he had the strength to do what was necessary."

"Jiraiya seems to have taught you well." The old veteran raised an eyebrow. "Very well. Yes, I respected your father. He had an...attitude that I admired." His eyes narrowed. "Are you perhaps saying you have that same drive?"

"No, you wouldn't believe me no matter what I say. But I want you to consider this: you are one who prefers a proactive approach, whereas the Third prefers a reactive one. I personally tend to like being proactive as well. _The best defense is offense_, right?"

Danzou nodded slowly.

"When we first realized that there was a meeting between the Kazekage and Orochimaru, I pushed forward a plan to immediately launch a first strike, not at the village of Sand or Sound, but to stop the entire war effort by cutting the head off the veritable snake. It is as my father would have done, you know this. But the Third did all he could to oppose me."

_Only true to a certain extent_, allowed the blond in his mind. "Because of his hesitance, we lost that window of opportunity." _Another lie_, knew the blond. But what Danzou didn't know couldn't hurt him. And Danzou already hated the Third enough; it wasn't like this little misdirection would lead the old cripple to hate the Third even more.

"Why are you telling me this?" Danzou asked, his voice tinged with curiosity.

Naruto answered, meeting Danzou's gaze steadily, "Because there is another chance. We know that Orochimaru and the Kazekage plan to meet for one final time in the month before the tournament stage of the Chuunin Exams."

"And you would like me to obtain that information for you."

Naruto waited.

Danzou seemed to consider him carefully. The blond jounin gave no reaction. His eyes flicked over to the ruined metal slab ripped away from the entrance before returning to the boy. A long minute stretched by before he finally nodded. "Very well, Vice-Commander. Let's see what you're capable of. I will bring you that information, but you must act on your words today. I will watch and see if you are truly your father's son."

Naruto flashed him a grin, before disappearing with a poof of smoke.

Danzou silently motioned for his ANBU to repair the damage and carefully studied the empty space where the boy had been just moments before.

A very interesting lad, no doubt. His father's son, through and through. It was clearly evident.

Danzou glared at the papers on his desk. The Fourth Hokage, the only man he felt truly deserved the title of Hokage. Not the peace-loving fool, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Namikaze Minato, a shinobi who had single-handedly devastated Stone's forces and contained the Nine-Tailed Beast. He had been ruthless. And during his brief time as Hokage, had actually tacitly supported the functioning of ANBU Root Division.

Yes, the Fourth Hokage had been a practical man. He had understood the most basic and fundamental of shinobi truths: _there was no honor._

Perhaps, thought Danzou, there was hope for yet another worthy Hokage: Namikaze Naruto.

Danzou would watch for the boy.

He quickly wrote a message, which was passed onto one of his Root. He would support the boy for now. If he truly was his father's son...

Perhaps for the first time in over a decade, the old cripple would be able to feel hope for the future.

And if not...

Danzo's hidden Sharingan eye spun with a gleam of madness. Well, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki was always meant to be a controlled weapon, right?

* * *

_**To be continued...**_

_ANBU ARC Part Five: __At the Heart of Fire__ will be updated very soon_, _but reviews really help encourage me to write! So take the hint, spend a minute, and _review!_ As I've said before, I honestly appreciate each and every review you make, even the one-worded ones. Reviews really show me that you've taken precious time out of your schedule to comment on my fic__–__and there's nothing more an author can ask__ for__._

* * *

**End Notes:**

First, I know it's been a while. But here I am at last, with an update.

The recruitment thing has been going on for a while, eh? In the overall scheme of things, the recruiting is only two chapters long. But I know that the long intervals between updates and makes things seem a lot more dragged out.

Let me assure you, though, that this is the end of it. The War Division is fully functioning and as such we're back to **Naruto in the action**. The next chapter will feature Naruto on an A-rank mission to the Fire Capital with one of the rookie teams as an escort (C-rank). Of course, nothing ever stays so innocent with Naruto involved. ^^

And then right after that we launch into the major action with war starting right off the bat.

So. We're finally, finally done with the setup (Thank god!). We can now move the plot forward at a much, much faster rate.

Thanks for reading. Please, once again, review! Tell me what you think. I really appreciate any and all feedback.

Comments always welcome.

-- _liath_


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